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TRAVELS  THROUGH 
ASIA 

WITH   THE  CHILDREN 


BY 


FRANK    G.  CARPENTER 


NEW  YORK  •;•  CIXClX.XAri  •:•  CHICAGO 

AMIErICAN     book     COMPANY' 


Copyright,  1897  and  1898,  by 
FRANK  G.  CARPENTER 


4-/    -^       fj 


PREFACE. 


In  writing  this  book,  it  has  been  the  aim  of  the  author  to 
give  a  simple  description  of  the  peoples  and  countries  of  Asia 
K  as  they  exist  to-day.  To  make  this  description  interesting 
T*  to  young  readers,  he  has  taken  them  on  an  imaginary  tour 
t^  through  the  countries  mentioned,  and  has  presented  to  their 
^  view  just  those  things  which  would  naturally  claim  the  atten- 
tion of  intelligent  children.  Having  in  mind  both  the  enter- 
tainment and  the  instruction  of  his  audience,  he  has  antici- 
pated their  numerous  questions  concerning  the  strange 
things  which  they  would  encounter  in  their  travels,  and  has 
^  endeavored  to  give  them  that  sort  of  information  which, 
while  affording  them  pleasure,  will  at  the  same  time  add  to 
their  stock  of  useful  knowledge. 

Leaving  America  by  the  northern  route  across  the  Pacific, 

the  children  are  conducted  to  Japan,  where  they  make  their 

first  acquaintance  with  Asiatic  life.      Then  they  sail  north- 

^     ward,  visiting    Korea   and    eastern    Siberia,  and    then    back 

v5     around  the  Korean  peninsula  to  the  great  Empire  of  China. 

^    After  noticing  the  strange  features  of  life  and  work  among 

^>      the  Chinese,  they  sail  southward  from  Hongkong  to  Siam, 

^^^nd  via  the  Straits  of  Malacca  to   Hurma  and   India,  making 

^^  short   visits   to   Siam,   Singapore,  and    Burma,  and   a   longer 

^j^i    stay  in  the  wonderful  country  of  the  Hindus.     Tibet  and  the 

Tibetans   form   the   subject   of  the   next   chapter,  and  then, 

5 

4G2556 


6  PREFACE. 

after  travels  through  Persia  and  Arabia,  the  children  are 
taken  to  Palestine  and  Turkey,  and  end  their  tour  at  the 
western  terminus  of  the  Trans-Siberian  railroad,  in  the  Ural 
Mountains. 

The  book,  however,  is  more  than  an  ordinary  diary  of 
travel.  It  pictures  the  Asiatic  peoples  as  they  are  found  in 
their  homes,  on  their  farms,  and  in  their  factories.  It  also 
describes  in  simple  language  the  civilization  of  the  various 
nations,  telling  how  they  are  governed,  and  showing  the 
queer  features  of  their  educational  systems.  The  changes 
now  going  on  in  the  various  countries  are  pointed  out,  and 
also  the  influence  that  these  changes  may  have  upon  the 
future  of  Asia  in  connection  with  us. 

This  book  of  travels  is,  to  a  large  extent,  the  result  of  the 
original  researches  of  the  author  during  a  two  years'  stay 
in  different  parts  of  Asia.  Many  of  the  descriptions  were 
written  on  the  ground,  amid  the  scenes  described,  and  a 
large  part  of  the  illustrations  are  from  photographs  taken 
by  the  author.  Used  as  a  supplement  to  the  lessons  in  the 
text-book  on  geography,  or  for  reading  in  connection  with 
them,  this  book  has  also  a  definite  and  important  educational 
purpose.  By  presenting  to  the  mind's  eye  the  various  places 
of  importance  as  they  actually  appear  to  a  traveler,  a  new 
interest  is  imparted  to  geographical  study,  and  what  seemed 
before  to  be  little  more  than  a  mere  skeleton  of  dry  facts 
becomes  a  living  and  potent  reality. 

To  make  the  text  easier  to  read,  the  pronunciation  of  the 
more  difficult  geographical  names  and  foreign  words  is 
indicated,  using  Webster's  diacritical  marks. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  From  America  to  Japan  on  a  Big  Ocean  Steamer 

II.  The  Island  Empire  of  Japan  —  General  View 

III.  The  Wonderful  City  of  Tokyo 

IV.  Home  Life  in  Japan       ..... 
V.  The  Emperor  and  his  Palaces 

VI.  Japanese  Children  at  School  and  at  Play 

VII.  Japanese  Farms  and  Farmers 

VIII.  Commercial  and  Industrial  Japan  . 

IX.  The  Hermit  Nation 

X.  Travels  among  the  Koreans  .... 

XI.  Siberia  and  the  Trans-Siberian  Railroad 

XII.  China  — A  Trip  to  Peking     .... 

XIII.  The  Great  Capital  of  China   .... 

XIV.  The  Emperor,  and  how  China  is  governed     . 
XV.  The  Great  Wall  of  China       .... 

XVI.  Chinese  Boats  and  the  Boat  People 

XVII.  Chinese  Farms  and  Farming 

XVIII.  Curious  Chinese  Customs       .         .         . 

XIX.  Siam  and  the  Siamese  ..... 

XX.  The  King  of  Siam  and  his  Royal  White  Elephants 

XXI.  Singapore  and  the  Malays      .... 

XXII.  Burma  and  the  Burmese         .... 

7 


PACE 

9 

15 

24 

33 

43 

5° 

59 

69 

76 

85 

93 

102 

1 1 1 

120 

12S 

134 

•43 

154 

162 

170 

179 

1S5 


8  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

XXIII.  Burmese  Farming  and  the  Working  Elephants    .         .     194 

XXIV.  General  View  of  India 202 

XXV.     Indian  Farms  and  Farmers 209 

XXVI.     The  Stores  and  Trades  of  India  ....  217 

XXVII.     The  Wild  Animals  of  India 225 

XXVIII.     Benares,  the  Holy  City  of  the  Hindus  .         .         .234 

XXIX.     The  Native  States  of  India;  or,  a  Visit  to  the  Rajah 

of  Jaipur 241 

XXX.     Above  the  Clouds ;  or,  Nature  and  Man  in  the  Heart 

of  the  Himalaya  Mountains 249 

XXXI.     Tibet  and  the  Tibetans 257 

XXXII.     Persia  and  the  Persians 265 

XXXIII.  Arabia,  or  Life  in  the  Desert 273 

XXXIV.  Palestine  and  its  People 282 

XXXV.     Travels  among  the  Turks 290 

XXXVI.     Russia  in  West  Asia .297 


LIST    OF    MAPS. 

Asia Frontispiece 

Japan  and  Korea 15 

Chinese  Empire 103 

India  and  Indo-China 202 

Persia,  Afghanistan,  and  Baluchistan 265 

Arabia  and  Turkey  in  Asia 275 

Palestine 286 

Russia  in  Asia 3°' 


ASIA, 


o5*?c 


I.     FROM   AMERICA  TO   JAPAN    ON    A    BIG 
OCEAN    STEAMER. 

ASIA  is  the  largest  grand  division  of  the  globe.  It  is 
larger  than  North  and  South  America,  and  both 
Europe  and  Africa  could  be  spread  out  upon  it  and  leave 
room  enough  around  the  edges  for  half  the  States  of  the 
Union.  This  vast  area  contains  more  than  half  the  world's 
population. 

Let  us  stop  for  a  moment  and  think  what  that  means. 
If  all  the  men,  women,  and  children  on  this  big,  round 
earth  could  be  gathered  together  in  one  field,  more  room 
would  be  needed  for  the  people  from  Asia  than  for  all  the 
rest ;  and  one  third  of  the  great  crowd  would  be  of  the 
Mongolian  race,  having  yellow  skins,  and  eyes  which  are 
slanting,  and  which  when  open  are  of  the  shape  of  an 
almond. 

More  than  one  fourth  of  the  whole  number  would  be 
yellow-skinned,  slant-eyed  Chinese,  the  boys  and  men 
having  their  heads  shaved  up  to  the  crown,  and  long 
braids  of  black  hair  hanging  down  froni  their  scalp  locks. 
There  would  be  millions   of   gayly  dressed,   almond-eyed 

9 


lO  PACIFIC   OCEAN. 

Chinese  women,  with  small  feet  so  tied  up  that  they  could 
not  move  without  pain.  There  would  be  millions  of  Jap- 
anese mothers  with  little  yellow  babies  tied  to  their  backs, 
and  millions  of  dark-faced  men  and  women  from  India 
with  features  like  ours.  There  would  be  yellow-skinned, 
slant-eyed  men  from  Siam  and  Japan,  with  short  black 
hair  standing  out  over  their  heads  like  the  bristles  of  a 
shoe  brush ;  and,  moving  in  and  out  through  the  crowd, 
we  should  see  here  and  there  a  yellow-skinned  Korean 
with  his  long  hair  done  up  in  a  knot  on  the  crown  of  his 
head,  and  with  a  gown  covering  his  body  from  his  neck 
to  his  feet.  There  would  be  beautiful  maidens  from 
Burma  with  plugs  in  their  ears  as  big  round  as  your 
thumb,  and  women  from  India  with  rings  on  their  fingers 
and  bells  on  their  toes.  There  would  be  Persians,  Jews, 
Syrians,  Armenians,  and  Turks,  each  wearing  a  different 
costume,  but  having  many  things  in  common  with  the  re- 
mainder of  the  curious  people  from  this  Asiatic  continent. 

If  we  watched  these  people  from  Asia  we  should  find 
that  they  do  few  things  as  we  do.  We  should  see  that 
the  men  of  some  nations  squat  on  their  heels  instead  of 
sitting  upon  chairs,  and  that  millions  upon  millions  use 
wooden  pillows  and  sleep  on  the  floor. 

If  we  followed  them  to  their  homes  we  should  discover 
mighty  cities  containing  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people 
engaged  in  all  sorts  of  curious  trades.  We  should  find 
farms  by  the  million,  and  gardens  which  blossom  like  the 
rose.  We  might  visit  temples  and  schools,  and  here  and 
there  we  should  see  structures  that  are  still  the  wonder  of 
the  world,  such  as  the  Great  Wall  of  China,  the  gigantic 
bronze  Buddha  (bood'da)  of  Japan,  and  the  Taj  Mahal 
(tazh  ma-hal')  of  India,  the  most  beautiful  building  known 
to   man.     We    should   find,   in    short,   civilizations   which 


VOYAGE  TO  JAPAN.  II 

have  much  good  in  themselves,  though  they  are  different 
from  ours,  and  we  should  be  surprised  at  the  wonderful 
but  comparatively  unknown  world  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  globe. 

It  is  among  these  people  that  we  are  now  to  travel 
together.  We  shall  wear  for  the  time  boots  more  wonder- 
ful than  those  of  Hop-o'-my-Thumb,  which  enabled  the 
little  fellow  to  make  seven  leagues  at  a  step ;  and  we  shall 
cross  oceans  and  rivers,  mountains  and  plains,  stopping 
only  to  notice  the  most  interesting  sights  by  the  way. 
The  author  will  be  the  guide.  He  has  traveled  tens  of 
thousands  of  miles  through  Asiatic  lands,  and  has  lived 
for  many  months  among  these  curious  peoples. 

Our  first  trip  will  be  across  the  Pacific,  and  we  shall 
sail  from  America  for  the  land  of  Japan.  The  Pacific  is 
the  largest  of  the  oceans.  From  north  to  south  it  is  more 
than  three  times  as  long  as  the  distance  between  New 
York  and  San  Francisco ;  and  between  the  Western  Con- 
tinent and  Asia,  as  it  goes  toward  the  south,  it  spreads  out 
in  the  shape  of  a  gigantic  fan,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  great 
liquid  wedge  between  our  world  and  that  on  the  other  side 
of  the  globe.  The  edge  of  the  wedge  is  driven  in  between 
the  two  great  bodies  of  land  at  Bering  Strait,  and  at  this 
point  it  is  only  forty  miles  wide,  a  distance  so  short  that 
it  is  said  on  clear  days  you  might  sit  in  your  reindeer 
sledge  in  Alaska  and  see  the  cold  hills  of  Siberian  Russia. 
The  wedge  widens  rapidly  as  we  go  to  the  south,  and  if 
we  attempted  to  cross  it  from  Quito  (ke'to)  along  the  line 
of  the  equator,  we  should  have  to  travel  ten  thousand 
miles  before  we  came  to  the  Mo-luc'cas,  a  group  of  islands 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Pacific. 

If  we  sailed  from  Lower  California  along  the  tropic  of 
Cancer,  we  should  have  eightv-five  hundred  miles  to  go 


12 


PACIFIC  OCEAN. 


before  we  reached  the  Empire  of  China;  and  from  San 
Francisco  to  Yokoha'ma,  Japan,  a  little  further  north,  the 
distance  is  about  forty-five  hundred  miles.  This  is  one  of 
the  great  highroads  of  the  Pacific,  but  a  still  shorter  route 
can  be  found  by  going  to  Vancouver  and  taking  a  Cana- 
dian vessel,  or  by  sailing  on  one  of  the  American  ships 
from  Puget  Sound  to  Japan;  and  this  will  be  the  road 
we  shall  travel. 


"Our  vessel  is  one  of  the  palaces  of  the  ocean." 

Our  vessel  is  one  of  the  palaces  of  the  ocean.  It  is 
propelled  by  steam,  and  the  distance  is  now  a  matter  of 
hours  rather  than  space.  It  will  take  us  from  ten  to 
twelve  days  to  go  from  one  continent  to  the  other,  and 
we  feel  almost  as  safe  on  the  boundless  Pacific  as  we  did 
in  our  own  house  at  home. 

Our  ship  itself  is  a  wonder.  It  is  made  of  steel.  It  is 
nearly  five  hundred  feet  long,  or  long  enough  to  stretch 
the  whole  length  of  the  average  city  block ;  and  it  is  so 
wide  that  it  would  fill  a  fifty-foot  street.     It  is  as  high  as 


VOYAGE  TO  JAPAN.  1 3 

a  six-story  house,  and  it  has  as  many  rooms  as  a  hotel.  It 
has  its  parlors  and  kitchens,  its  sleeping  rooms  and  bath- 
rooms, and  it  contains  a  butcher's  shop,  a  bakery,  a  car- 
penter's shop,  and  all  sorts  of  machinery.  Its  dining  room 
is  as  large  as  that  of  a  hotel,  and  we  have  as  good  food  as 
on  our  tables  at  home. 

Every  bedroom  has  its  electric  bell,  and  the  whole  ship 
is  lighted  by  electricity.  Its  hundreds  of  rooms  run  from 
story  to  story,  from  the  hurricane  deck,  which  forms  its 
roof,  down  to  the  basement  just  over  the  keel,  where  a 
plate  of  steel  no  thicker  than  your  finger  is  all  that  keeps 
out  the  sea.  It  is  in  this  great  steel  shell  that  we  travel 
over  more  than  four  thousand  miles  of  water  without  com- 
ing in  sight  of  land. 

When  we  go  through  the  workshops  of  the  basement, 
the  engineer  shows  us  the  great  machines  which,  by  means 
of  steam,  noiselessly  but  steadily  force  the  ship  on  over 
one  of  the  longest  ocean  routes  in  the  world.  He  tells  us 
that  his  engines  are  as  strong  as  ten  thousand  horses,  and 
by  supposing  a  horse  to  be  six  feet  in  length  from  nose 
to  tail,  we  find  that  it  would  take  a  compact  line  of  two- 
horse  teams  more  than  five  miles  long,  all  pulling  at  once, 
to  represent  the  force. 

The  engineer  shows  us  the  enormous  amount  of  fuel  re- 
quired to  feed  this  power,  when  he  tells  us  that  almost  two 
thousand  tons  of  coal  are  burned  to  make  the  steam  for 
the  voyage.  It  is  a  large  dwelling  house  that  requires  ten 
tons  of  coal  a  year.  Our  steamer,  therefore,  in  a  single 
voyage  burns  enough  coal  to  supply  two  hundred  such 
homes  with  fuel  the  year  round ;  and  a  village  of  one 
thousand  people  does  not  use  more  coal  in  twelve  months 
than  we  shall  consume  in  two  weeks. 

We  find  that  the  coal  is  put  into  the  great  furnaces  by 


14  PACIFIC   OCEAN. 

thirty-two  Chinamen,  who  arc  divided  into  gangs  of  eight. 
Each  gang  works  for  six  hours  at  a  stretch,  and  the 
shoveling  goes  on  while  we  sleep ;  it  never  stops  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  voyage. 

We  tremble  when  we  think  of  the  possibility  of  breaking 
down  in  the  watery  waste  of  the  Pacific,  where  we  might 
float  for  days  and  weeks  without  meeting  another  steamer. 


"—  the  shoveling  goes  on  while  we  sleep;" 

We  feel  a  little  safer  when  the  captain  tells  us  that  we 
are  just  off  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  that  here  the  steamer 
sometimes  sails  so  near  land  that  travelers  can  hear  the 
foxes  bark  as  they  go  by.  We  feel  safer  still  when  we 
near  the  Kurile  (koo'ril)  Islands,  and  can  almost  smell  the 
land  of  Japan.  We  steam  on  to  the  south,  out  of  sight  of, 
but  not  far  from,  the  island  of  Yes'so,  into  warmer  seas, 
and  are  awakened  by  our  Chinese  servant  with  the  news 
that  Japan  is  in  sight,  and  that  we  shall  soon  be  on  Asiatic 
soil. 


JAPAN—  GENERAL  VIEW. 


15 


II.     THE   ISLAND    EMPIRE   OF   JAPAN 
GENERAL  VIEW. 


JAPAN!  What  a  won- 
derful country  it  is ! 
It  is  the  Island  Empire 
of  the  globe.  Lying  as 
it  does,  surrounded  by 
the  deep  waters  of  the 
western  Pacific,  it  winds 
in  and  out  like  a  snake, 
from  southwest  to  north- 
east a  distance  of  more 
than  two  thousand  miles. 
This  Snake  is  made 
up  of  more  than  thirty- 
eight  hundred  moun- 
tainous islands,  and  it 
drags  its  length  through 
almost  every  climate 
known  to  man.  Its 
tail,  which  is  now  the 
island  of  Formosa,  lies 
in  the  warm  waters  of 
the  semitropics,  flap- 
ping, as  it  were,  upon 
the  tropic  of  Cancer. 
Further  north,  the  Snake 
sinks  the  lower  part  of 
its  trunk  beneath  the 
waters  of  the  Japanese 
ocean  current,   a  green 


Japan  and  Korea. 


1 6  JAPAN. 

island  speck  showing  out  here  and  there,  and  then  rears 
it  up  for  eleven  hundred  miles  in  the  islands  of  Kiushu 
(kyoo-shoo'),  Shikoku  (she-k5'koo),  and  Hon'do,  through 
every  gradation  of  the  temperate  zone. 

Its  gigantic  head  is  the  island  of  Yesso,  which  lies  in  the 
cold  waters  of  the  northern  Pacific,  shrouded  in  snow  dur- 
ing the  long  winter  months,  and  at  times  bedded  in  ice. 
The  main  part  of  the  trunk  is  warmed  by  the  ocean 
winds  to  such  an  extent  that  these  thousands  of  islands 
breathe  an  air  full  of  moisture,  and  even  in  winter  much 
of  the  land  is  emerald  green.  Now  and  then  the  snow 
falls  on  the  northern  part  of  the  island  of  Hondo,  but  the 
green  grass  shows  out  through  the  white,  and  in  many 
parts  of  Japan  the  plum  trees  are  in  blossom  in  the  midst 
of  our  winter. 

Japan  is  a  land  of  forests  and  flowers.  The  camellia 
and  magnblia  grow  wild  upon  its  green  hills,  and  its  people 
call  their  country  the  land  of  the  chrysanthemum.  They 
cultivate  the  cherry  tree  for  its  blossoms,  and  during  the 
season  of  its  bloom  they  have  picnics,  when  young  men 
and  maidens,  old '  men  and  old  women,  wander  about 
through  the  trees,  and,  inspired  by  the  sight,  wTite  verses 
of  poetry  which  they  tie  to  the  branches. 

There  is  no  land  in  the  world  which  has  a  greater  variety 
of  beautiful  scenery.  It  is  a  country  of  mountains  and 
valleys,  which  are  clothed  with  verdure  to  such  an  extent 
that  you  can  hardly  believe  that  the  whole  of  Japan  was 
once  covered  with  volcanoes. 

As  we  float  toward  the  coast  on  our  big  ocean  steamer, 
the  sight  that  first  meets  our  eyes  is  a  great  white  moun- 
tain cone  hanging  almost  like  a  silver  cloud  in  the  west- 
ern horizon.  As  we  come  nearer,  this  cone  increases  in 
size.     A  long,  hazy  blue  line  of  coast  shows  out  below 


GENERAL   VIEW. 


17 


it  through  a  thin  veil  of  fleecy  clouds,  and  we  learn  that 
we  are  looking  at  Fusiyama  (foo-zi-a'ma),  the  extinct  vol- 
cano and  the  famed  sacred  mountain  of  Japan.  It  is  the 
highest  mountain  of  the  empire,  and  its  snowy  cap  kisses 
the  sky  more  than  two  miles  above  us. 


" --   its  snowy  cap  Kisses  ine  SKy  --  " 

As  we  come  nearer  still,  we  see  vapor  rising  from 
another  volcano  on  an  island  further  off  to  the  south  ; 
and  we  shall  travel  in  and  out  among  volcanic  islands,  no 
matter  to  what  part  of  the  empire  we  sail.  Japan  has 
to-day  more  than  fifty  steaming  volcanoes,  and  there  are 
hundreds  of  others  which  may  at  any  time  burst  into 
eruption,  though  they  now  lie  entirely  quiet,  like  other 
mountains. 


1 8  JAPAN, 

Japan  is  also  a  land  of  earthquakes,  and  its  capital, 
To'kyo,  is  said  to  feel  at  least  one  shock  every  day  of  the 
year.  In  the  past,  the  Japanese  believed  that  earthquakes 
were  caused  by  a  gigantic  fish  which  lived  in  the  sea  off 
Japan,  and  now  and  then  bumped  its  nose  or  struck  its  tail 
against  the  coast  in  its  anger.  This  it  was,  they  thought, 
that  shook  the  earth  and  made  it  crack  and  tremble. 


shook  the  earth  and  made  it  crack  —  " 


To-day,  the  scientists  of  Japan  make  careful  observations 
of  earthquakes.  The  government  has  an  earthquake  pro- 
fessor in  the  Imperial  University,  and  we  can  learn  more 
about  them  here,  perhaps,  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

It  will  not  be  strange  if  we  meet  with  an  earthquake 
during  our  tour.  One  happened  nearly  two  centuries  ago 
which  destroyed  the  capital  (then  called  Yeddo),  and  in 


GENERAL   VIEW.  1 9 

which  two  hundred  thousand  people  lost  their  lives.  The 
same  city  had  another  terrible  earthquake  in  1855,  dur- 
ing which  sixteen  thousand  houses  were  thrown  down  and 
many  thousand  persons  were  killed  ;  and  in  1894  the  author 
narrowly  escaped  death  in  a  great  earthquake  there.  At 
this  time  the  ground  rose  and  fell  like  the  waves  of  the 
sea.  Some  of  the  buildings  in  the  palace  grounds  were 
thrown  down.  The  home  of  the  United  States  minister 
was  almost  wrecked,  and  several  foreign  buildings  were 
entirely  destroyed. 

The  most  of  these  volcanic  islands  of  Japan  are  small, 
some  being  no  larger  than  a  good-sized  farm.  Taken 
together,  though,  they  form  enough  territory  for  a  mighty 
nation,  and  some  single  islands  are  larger  than  many  of 
our  American  States.  The  total  area  of  Japan  is  greater 
than  that  of  Italy,  or  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  Three 
States  as  large  as  New  York,  if  they  could  be  cut  into 
patches  like  a  quilt,  would  not  be  sufficient  to  cover  it ;  and 
if  you  could  carry  the  islands  to  Prussia,  they  would  hide 
that  great  German  kingdom  from  the  light  of  the  sun. 

The  five  largest  islands  make  up  by  far  the  most  of 
Japan.  There  is  Formosa  at  the  tail  of  the  chain,  at  the 
south,  just  about  twice  as  big  as  New  Jersey,  and  Yesso 
at  the  head,  at  the  north,  which  is  about  equal  to  South 
Carolina  in  size.  Just  south  of  Yesso  is  the  island  of 
Hondo,  which  is  larger  than  Kansas,  and  which,  with  its 
two  smaller  sisters,  Kiushu  and  Shikoku,  forms  the  most 
important  part  of  Japan,  taking  up  two  thirds  of  its  area. 

As  to  Formosa  and  Yesso,  these  are  to  the  rest  of  the 
empire  as  our  unsettled  territories  are  to  the  most  popu- 
lous States  of  the  Union.  Formosa,  which  was  gained  by 
war  from  China,  is  peopled  by  savages,  some  of  whom, 
probably,   are   cannibals,   and    of   whom    little    is  known. 


20 


JAPAN. 


Yesso  may  be  called  the  Alaska  of  Japan.  It  is  rugged 
and  wild,  and,  though  it  contains  about  one  fifth  of  all  the 
Japanese  territory,  its  people  are  few  and  they  are  hardly 
more  advanced  in  civilization  than  the  Eskimos.  They 
are  known  as  the  Ainos  (i'noz),  and  are  supposed  by 
some  to  have  been  the  first  Japanese.  They  are  short  in 
stature,  like  the  men  of  the  other  parts  of  the  empire,  but 


"  The  Ainos  live  in  rude  huts 


their  shoulders  are  broader.  They  are  governed  by  the 
Emperor  of  Japan,  but  they  have  little  in  common  with 
the  people  of  the  great  islands  to  the  southward. 

The  Ainos  live  in  rude  huts,  and  their  bodies  are  so 
covered  with  hair  that  the  people  of  southern  Japan  have 
nicknamed  them  "  the  hairy  men."  They  are  intemperate 
and  as  dirty  as  the  people  of  the  other  Japanese  islands 
are  clean,  and  their  religion  is  made  up  partly  of  the 
worship  of  bears. 


GENERAL   VIEW.  21 

In  Hondo  live  the  great  majority  of  the  forty  millions 
who  make  up  Japan's  population,  and  upon  it  have  been 
located  all  the  great  scenes  of  Japanese  history.  This  is 
the  island  of  which  Marco  Polo  wrote  when  he  returned 
from  China,  bringing  his  stories  of  Cipango,  the  land  off 
the  coast  of  Asia  which  was  loaded  with  gold ;  and  it 
was  this  island  that  Christopher  Columbus  hoped  to  reach 
first  when  he  started  out  on  his  new  route  to  China  and 
discovered  America.  We  shall  look  in  vain  for  Japanese 
gold,  though  Marco  Polo  said  that  the  very  dogs  of  the 
country  wore  golden  collars,  and  that  "  the  roofs  and  floors 
of  the  ruler's  palace  were  entirely  of  gold,  the  latter  being 
made  in  plates  like  slabs  of  stone,  a  good  two-fingers  thick." 

Japan  has  not  much  gold,  but  there  are  vast  deposits  of 
copper  on  the  island  of  Hondo.  There  are  iron  mines 
and  silver  mines,  and  vast  quantities  of  coal.  We  shall 
find  coal  mines  in  the  west  which  run  under  the  sea,  and 
on  the  island  of  Takashi'ma,  near  Nagasa'ki,  we  may  visit 
a  coal  mine  which  is  now  being  worked,  containing  fifty 
miles  of  tunnels,  all  under  the  ocean. 

It  is  on  this  island  of  Hondo  that  we  land  at  the  close 
of  our  voyage.  We  float  through  the  picturesque  Bay  of 
Yeddo,  and  on  into  the  beautiful  harbor  of  Yokohama, 
where  we  cast  our  anchor  amid  boats  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  There  are  steamers  from  China,  and  great  ships 
which  have  made  the  voyage  from  London  to  Japan  by 
way  of  the  Suez  Canal.  There  are  Russian  and  French 
men-of-war,  and  queer-looking  sailing  vessels,  called  junks, 
from  different  parts  of  Japan.  There  are  curious  small 
boats  called  sampans  darting  out  and  in  among  the  ships, 
each  sculled  by  means  of  a  paddle  at  the  stern  by  a  half- 
naked,  brown-skinned,  slant-eyed  man  who  jabbers  and 
yells  as  he  motions  to  us  to  jump  in  and  ride  to  the  shore. 

C.\KP.  ASIA —  2 


22 


JAPAN. 


It  is  but  a  few  minutes'  trip  from  the  ship  to  the 
wharves,  and  we  are  soon  at  the  customhouse,  where 
Japanese  clerks  in  clothes  like  ours  examine  our  baggage 
for  opium  and  goods  to  be  taxed.  The  Japanese  have 
never  allowed  opium  to  come  into  their  country.  They 
have  seen  how  the  habits  of  opium  eating  and  opium  smok- 
ing, which  are  as  bad  in  their  effects  as  the  drinking  of 

whisky,  have  fastened 
themselves  upon  the 
Chinese,  and  any  one 
who  sells  this  drug  in 
Japan  will  be  dragged 
off  to  prison. 

Our  first  sight  after 
leaving  the  custom- 
house is  a  crowd  of  jin- 
rik'isha  men  w^aiting  to 
be  hired.  Each  wears  a 
stiff  round  hat  covered 
with  blue  or  white  cot- 
ton, of  the  size  and  shape 
of  a  butter  bowl  upside 
down  ;  and  the  remain- 
der of  his  costume  is  a 
loose-fitting  shirt  and  a 
pair  of  tights.  Each  man  stands  by  his  jinrikisha  and 
motions  to  us  to  get  in,  pointing  to  his  legs  as  he  does 
so,  as  much  as  to  say  that  he  can  go  very  fast. 

As  we  look,  other  jinrikishas  dart  by  us,  filled  with  Japa- 
nese ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  we  find  that  the  jinrikisha 
is  the  cab  of  Japan.  It  is  like  an  old-fashioned  baby  car- 
riage, with  a  pair  of  shafts  just  wide  enough  for  a  man  to 
stand  between  them,  and  with  two  wheels  as  large  as  those 


T^ 


other  jinrikishas  dart  by  us 


GENERAL  VIEW.  23 

at  the  front  end  of  an  American  buggy.  It  is  usually 
pulled  by  one  man,  though  sometimes  by  two.  Some  of  the 
best  runners  can  drag  the  jinrikisha  from  five  to  eight  miles 
an  hour,  and  many  travel  almost  as  fast  as  a  horse.  We 
pay  only  ten  cents  an  hour  for  our  human  steeds. 

It  is  in  jinrikishas  that  we  explore  Yokohama.  This  is 
now  a  city  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  people,  and 
is  the  chief  seaport  of  Japan  ;  but  it  was  only  a  fishing 
village  when  Commodore  M.  C.  Perry  landed  here  in  1854 
and  made  the  treaty  between  Japan  and  the  United  States 
which  opened  this  empire  to  the  world.  Before  that  time, 
the  Japanese  would  not  have  anything  to  do  with  foreign- 
ers. They  knew  very  little  about  us  and  our  civilization, 
and  they  were  much  surprised  at  the  presents  which  Com- 
modore Perry  brought  with  him  from  America  for  the 
emperor. 

Among  these  gifts  were  some  telegraphic  instruments  and 
a  toy  railroad  train.  The  Japanese  had  never  seen  such 
things,  and  when  they  learned  that  the  telegraph  wires 
could  carry  messages  in  Japanese  quite  as  readily  as  in 
English,  they  were  greatly  surprised.  The  railroad  train 
had  a  little  steam  engine  which  hauled  cars  so  small  that 
the  Japanese  could  not  get  inside  of  them.  They  were 
really  hardly  large  enough  to  have  held  children  of  six 
years.  A  circular  track  was  put  up  at  Yokohama,  and  the 
little  train  was  run  around  this,  many  of  the  dignified  Japa- 
nese crawling  on  the  tops  of  the  cars  and  holding  on  to  the 
roof  as  the  engine  carried  them  flying  around  the  track. 

In  our  ride  through  Yokohama  we  now  see  many 
foreigners.  There  are  telegraph  wires  running  through 
its  main  streets.  There  are  both  electric  and  steam  rail- 
roads connecting  it  with  other  parts  of  the  country,  and 
we  see  that  the  business  portions  of  the  city  have  many 


24  JAPAN. 

foreign  stores  containing  goods  much  like  those  which  are 
sold  in  America.  We  are  told,  however,  that  Yokohama 
is  not  altogether  like  the  other  towns  of  Japan,  and  we 
leave  at  once  for  the  city  of  Tokyo,  the  capital,  which  is 
only  fourteen  miles  off  up  the  bay. 


III.     THE  WONDERFUL   CITY   OF  TOKYO. 

IT  is  less  than  an  hour's  ride  by  train  from  Yokohama  to 
Tokyo.  The  railroad  skirts  the  beautiful  Bay  of  Yeddo. 
We  are  carried  through  green  rice  fields,  past  villages  of 
thatched  houses,  and  are  landed  at  last  in  one  of  the 
busiest  parts  of  the  capital  of  the  Japanese  Empire.  Out- 
side the  station  there  are  jinrikishas  by  hundreds,  with 
their  owners  standing  beside  them.  We  pick  out  the 
best-looking  runners,  and,  after  a  few  moments'  bargaining 
as  to  the  price  per  hour  we  shall  pay,  we  begin  our  ride 
through  the  streets. 

We  direct  our  men  to  carry  us  all  over  the  city,  and  ask 
how  long  it  will  take  to  visit  its  principal  parts.  We  learn 
that  such  a  ride  would  consume  several  days.  Tokyo  is 
one  of  the  largest  cities  of  the  world,  for  it  contains  a 
million  and  a  half  of  people.  It  is  nine  miles  long  and 
eight  miles  in  width,  and  its  area  is  more  than  seventy 
square  miles. 

Here  and  there  over  the  city  are  towers  made  of  wood 
which  rise  high  above  the  other  buildings,  and  upon  which 
watchmen  stand  day  and  night  on  the  lookout  for  fires. 
One  of  these  is  not  far  from  the  railroad  station.  We 
climb  to  its  top  and  take  a  look  over  the  city. 

Tokyo  lies  in  a  plain  or  wide  valley  which  is  backed  by 


I     H 


TOKYO. 


25 


" —  take  a  look  over  the  city." 

green  hills,  and  cut  up  by  canals.  On  the  south  side 
is  the  beautiful  Bay  of  Yeddo,  upon  which  boats  of  all 
kinds  float  to  and  fro.  Running  north  from  the  bay 
are  thousands  of  one-  and  two-story  houses  roofed  with 
black  tiles ;  and  such  buildings  form  the  greater  part  of 
the  city.  The  houses  are  built  along  the  edges  of  streets 
that  have  no  sidewalks.  They  are  of  unpainted  wood 
turned  gray  by  the  weather,  and,  with  their  roofs,  they 
wall  the  streets  with  long  lines  of  black  and  gray.  A 
wide  river  flows  through  the  city,  and  upon  it  float  queer 
Japanese  boats.  Here  and  there  among  the  houses  may 
be  seen  parks  and  gardens,  in  which  are  massive  wooden 
buildings  surrounded  by  trees.  These  are  the  temples 
where  the  Japanese  come  to  worship  according  to  their 
religion,  of  which  we  shall  learn  more  farther  on. 


26 


JAPAN. 


In  the  center  of  the  city  there  is  a  large  open  space 
surrounded  by  three  wide  moats,  or  great  ditches,  walled 
with  stone.  These  moats  are  filled  with  water.  They 
run  one  inside  of  another,  with  wide  spaces  between  them, 
and  inclose  the  great  park  in  which  are  the  palaces  of  the 
emperor.  In  the  grounds  between  the  two  outside  moats 
there  are  some  fine  modern  structures  of  brick  and  stone, 
not  unlike   the    large  public    buildings  of    our  American 


"These  moats  are  filled  with  water." 

cities.  These  buildings  are  occupied  by  the  great  depart- 
ments, through  the  officials  of  which  the  empire  is  gov- 
erned. 

Let  us  take  our  jinrikishas  and  ride  through  the  streets. 
How  queer  it  all  is !  The  buildings  look  more  like  the 
bazaars  of  a  fair  than  the  substantial  blocks  of  an  Ameri- 
can city.  There  are  few  large  houses,  and  a  building 
rarely  has  more  than  two  stories.  The  low,  ridged  roofs 
extend  about  three  feet  beyond  the  walls  of  the  houses. 
The  floors  are  well  up  off  the  ground.     The  outer  walls 


TOKYO. 


27 


are  made  in  sections  which  sHde  in  grooves  back  and 
forth ;  and  during  the  day  the  front  of  each  lower  story  is 
pushed  aside  so  that  the  passer-by  can  see  all  that  goes  on 
within.  We  look  in  vain  for  windows  and  doors.  The 
rooms  are  separated  from  one  another  by  walls  of  lattice- 
work backed  with  white  paper,  through  which  the  light 


iir^VW^^! 


A  Japanese  Store. 


comes.  These  walls  are  also  in  sections  which  move  aside 
in  grooves,  one  inside  the  other;  and  in  going  from  one 
room  to  another  you  push  aside  a  section  of  the  wall  in- 
stead of  opening  a  door. 

The  Japanese  are  naturally  modest,  but  their  customs 
are  different  from  ours,  and  we  see  much  of  their  family 
life  as  we  ride  through  the  streets.     Here  is  a  slant-eyed 


28 


JAPAN. 


maiden  making  her  toilet.  She  sits  on  her  heels  on  the 
floor  before  a  little  round  mirror,  and  primps,  and  powders, 
and  paints  her  lips  red,  while  the  people  go  by  without 
noticing  anything  strange  in  the  scene.  Next  door  there 
is  a  family  eating  their  dinner.  They  sit  or  kneel  on 
the  floor,  and  each  has  his  own  table,  of  the  size  and 
height  of  a  shoeblack's  box. 

Further  on  is  a  store.  The  merchant  sits  flat  on  the 
floor  with  his  goods  piled  around  him,  and  the  floor  is  his 
counter.  His  customers  sit  on  the  floor  as  they  shop,  and  he 
takes  down  piece  by  piece  while  they  wait.  As  we  look, 
the   sections   of   the  wall   at  the   back  are  pushed  wide 

apart,  and  the  merchant's 
whole  family  come  in  to 
watch  the  sale.  The  little 
boys  have  almond  eyes 
and  short  hair,  and  the 
little  girls  slant  eyes  and 
long  hair  done  up  just 
like  their  mother's.  Dur- 
ing the  shopping,  the  mer- 
chant's bookkeeper  sits 
on  his  heels  at  one  side, 
and  figures  up  the  profit 
and  loss  with  a  box  of 
wooden  buttons  strung 
upon  wires.  By  moving 
these  up  and  down,  he  adds  and  subtracts  quite  as  quickly 
as  we  do  with  pencil  and  paper,  and  his  figures  rarely  go 
wrong. 

But  let  us  turn  from  the  shops  to  the  people.  The 
streets  of  Tokyo  are  not  narrow,  and  we  are  not  jostled 
as  we  move  through  the  crowd.     The  hundreds  of  queer- 


figures  up  the  profit  — ' 


TOKYO. 


29 


looking  men  and  women  who  pass  us  are  all  good-natured, 
and  they  treat  us  as  brothers.  They  smile  and  bend  low- 
as  they  meet  one  another,  and  when  we  stop  at  their 
stores  or  enter  their  houses,  they  bow  again  and  again 
until  we  think  they  will  break  in  two.  We  try  to  be  polite 
in  return,  but  the  Japanese  back  is  more  elastic  than  ours. 
We  soon  grow  stiff  with  the  unusual  motion,  and  we  feel 
that  even  the  India-rubber  man  of  the  circus  would  wear 
himself  out  with  bowing  in  a  tour  through  Japan. 


Japanese  Shoes. 


Clatter,  clatter,  clatter !  What  a  noise  the  people  make 
as  they  go  along  the  street !  They  wear  curious  sandals 
of  wood  or  straw,  and  their  stockings  are  a  kind  of  foot- 
mittens,  in  which  the  big  toe  has  a  separate  place.  Dur- 
ing wet  weather  they  wear  sandals  with  blocks  or  legs  on 
the  bottom  about  three  inches  long,  and  the  whole  Japa- 
nese nation  becomes  just  three  inches  taller  whenever  it 
rains.  At  such  times  the  women  pull  their  gowns  up  to 
their  knees,  and  the  men  tuck  theirs  up  under  their  belts, 
to  keep  them  from  being  spattered  with  mud.  They  all 
carry  paper  umbrellas,  which  cover  the  upper  parts  of 
their  bodies,  and  the  street  seems  to  be  filled  with  bare 
yellow  legs  which  are  walking  off  with  the  people. 


30 


JAPAN. 


The  Japanese  dress  is  peculiar.  Both  men  and  women 
wear  long,  flowing  gowns  extending  from  their  necks  to 
their  feet.  These  are  folded  across  the  body  in  front,  and 
are  fastened  at  the  waist  with  a  sash.  The  chief  difference 
in  the  dress  of  women  and  men  is  in  the  sash,  which,  for 
the  women,  is  usually  a  strip  of  fine  silk  more  than  half  a 
yard  wide,  and  so  long  that  it  can  be  tied  in  a  great  bow  at 
the  back.     The  gowns  of  both  sexes  are  open  at  the  neck. 

Girls  are  taught  in  walk- 
ing to  take  short  steps 
and  to  turn  their  toes 
inward,  thus  becoming 
pigeon-toed,  as  it  were, 
in  order  that  they  may 
not  pull  their  dresses 
apart.  The  sleeves  form 
the  pockets,  being  made 
long  and  full  and  sewed 
up  at  the  wrists.  The 
colors  of  the  clothes  are 
modest  in  the  extreme, 
and  in  our  ride  through 
the  city  we  see  silks 
and  cottons  of  dark 
blue  and  gray,  rather 
than  the  bright,  gaudy 
hues  which  many  peo- 
ple suppose  to  be  most  liked  in  Japan. 

How  busy  every  one  is !  As  we  go  through  the  prin- 
cipal streets  we  find  the  stores  and  houses  filled  with 
workers.  There  are  crowds  at  the  shops  buying  goods, 
and  peddlers  by  hundreds  carrying  their  wares  through 
the  streets.     There  are  porters  by  scores  with  great  loads 


Girls  in  Summer  Dress. 


TOKYO.  3 1 

on  their  backs,  and  servants  carrying  heavy  bas- 
kets fastened  by  strings  or  ropes  to  the  ends  of 
poles  which  rest  on  their  shoulders. 

Children  in  groups  play  about  everywhere. 
There  are  whole  families  on  their  way  to 
the  theaters,  which  here  give  their  per- 
formances during  the  day ;  and  other  fam- 
ilies are  starting  out  to  worship  at  the 
Japanese  temples,  carrying  a  lunch  in 
order  that  they  may  picnic  in  the  groves  porter  with  Lumber, 
after  their  prayers.  There  are  Japanese 
students  walking  along  arm  in  arm,  discussing  their  les- 
sons. Jinrikishas  pass  by  us,  carrying  Japanese  statesmen 
to  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  other  jinrikishas  are  seen 
here  and  there,  in  which  are  bareheaded  ladies  who  are 
going  out  calling,  or  taking  the  air. 

There  are  hardly  any  horses,  and  very  few  carriages 
other  than  jinrikishas,  and  as  we  look  we  are  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  man  power  still  runs  the  land  of  Jajjan. 
Here  comes  a  little  post-ofifice  wagon  carrying  the  mail. 
It  is  pulled  by  a  man  who  wears  a  blue  jacket  and  tights. 
Behind  is  a  dray  of  one  of  the  big  wholesale  establish- 
ments, with  a  load  of  goods  for  the  train.  Its  motive 
power  consists  of  those  two  almond-eyed  men  who  are 
harnessed  in  front,  and  the  two  others  who  shove  hard 
behind  with  both  head  and  hands.  Their  muscles  stand 
out  like  thick  cords  as  they  work,  and  the  sweat  rolls 
down  their  brown  skins  in  diamond-white  streams. 

We  notice  that  most  of  the  streets  are  still  watered  by 
hand,  but  everywhere  amid  these  old  Japanese  methods 
of  work  we  see  that  our  civilization  is  pushing  its  way. 
Along  some  of  the  main  streets  there  are  now  street  cars. 
There  are  telegraph  lines  running  through  all  parts  of  the 


32 


JAPAN. 


city,  and  our  guide  points  out  a  building  which  he  says  is 
the  central  telephone  station.  We  find  that  some  parts  of 
Tokyo  are  lighted  at  night  by  electricity.  We  are  told 
that  the  city  has  excellent  public  schools  and  a  great 
university.  We  meet  newsboys  on  every  street  corner, 
and  we  wonder  at  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in 
Japan  since  the  days  of  Commodore  Perry. 


"—  with  a  load  of  goods  for  the  train. 


Then  Tokyo  was  known  to  the  world  as  Yeddo.  It  was 
the  place  where  the  sho'gun  or  tycoon'  had  his  head- 
quarters, and  it  was  rather  a  great  military  camp  than 
a  city.  The  shogun  was  the  commander  in  chief  of  the 
army.  The  country  was  then  divided  up  into  large  es- 
tates owned  by  daimios  (di'mi-6z),  who  had  many  soldiers. 
These  soldiers  were  called  sam'urai,  and  each   of  them 


TOKYO.  33 

carried  two  swords.  They  despised  the  tradesmen,  me- 
chanics, and  farmers  who  made  up  the  rest  of  the  people, 
and  they  forced  everybody  to  pay  taxes  to  the  daimios. 

Each  daimio  spent  a  part  of  the  year  at  Yeddo,  living 
there  with  his  soldiers,  ready  to  march  forth  to  war  at  the 
command  of  the  shogun.  At  this  time,  the  emperor  was 
kept  by  the  shogun  and  the  daimios  in  the  palaces  at  his 
capital,  which  was  then  the  city  of  Kio'to,  in  central  Japan. 
They,  pretended  that  he  was  too  holy  to  rule,  and  so  the 
shogun,  daimios,  and  samurai  governed  Japan,  oppressing 
the  other  classes  of  the  people. 

In  1868,  however,  a  number  of  the  great  men  of  Japan 
decided  that  this  must  be  changed.  They  resolved  to  over- 
throw the  shogun,  and  to  make  the  emperor  the  real  ruler 
of  the  Japanese  people.  They  began  a  great  revolution, 
defeated  the  shogun,  and  brought  the  emperor  from  Kioto 
to  Tokyo,  which  they  made  the  capital  of  the  empire. 
Shortly  after  this.  Western  methods  of  government  began 
to  be  brought  in.  The  daimios  gave  up  their  estates,  re- 
ceiving pay  for  them  from  the  emperor,  and  the  lands 
were  divided  among  the  people.  All  men  now  have  equal 
rights,  and  we  find  that  Tokyo  has  all  the  modern  improve- 
ments of  a  city  like  New  York  or  London.  It  has  doubled 
in  size  since  1868,  having  since  then  increased  in  popula- 
tion from  700,000  to  about  1,500,000. 


oXXc 


IV.     HOME    LIFE   IN   JAPAN. 

THE  best  place  to  study  a  people  is  in  their  own  homes, 
and  we  can  learn  much   by  spending  a  night  in  a 
Japanese   house.      The   Japanese  live  very   simply,   and, 


34 


JAPAN. 


"—a  type  of  the  homes  of  Japan." 

though  there  is  some  difference  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  mode  of  living  is  everywhere  of  the  same  general 
character,  and  the  home  of  the  well-to-do  family  which  we 
shall  visit  to-day  will  serve  as  a  type  of  the  homes  of 
Japan.  We  take  our  jinrikishas  and  soon  reach  our 
friend's  dwelling.  It  is  an  unpainted  frame  building  of 
two  stories,  with  a  heavy  roof  of  black  earthenware  tiles 
supported  by  gray  wooden  posts  which  rest  upon  stones. 
We  can  see  clear  through  the  house  and  get  a  glimpse  of 
a  beautiful  garden  lying  behind.  The  outer  walls  have 
been  pushed  back  for  the  day,  for  the  sun  is  warm ;  and 
the  air  rushes  through  on  all  sides. 

We  see  almost  the  whole  house  before  we  leave  our 
jinrikishas,  and  as  we  look  we  wonder  at  first  if  the  family 
has  not  moved  away.     The  rooms  are  all  here,  but  there 


'' 


HOME    LIFE. 


35 


"The  rooms  are  all  here  — ' 


is  nothing  like  our  American  furniture  in  sight.  Where 
are  the  tables  ?  There  are  none,  for  the  Japanese  do  not 
use  such  tables  as  ours.  Where  are  the  chairs .-'  Those 
cushions  which  lie  on  the  mats  take  their  places,  for  these 
people  prefer  to  sit  on  the  floor. 

How  clean  everything  is !  The  road  in  front  of  the 
house  is  well  swept.  You  can  see  yourself  in  the  strip 
of  bare  floor  which  runs  round  the  house  about  two  feet 
above  the  ground,  like  a  porch ;  and  the  rooms  just  back 
of  this  are  covered  with  matting  of  the  cleanest  white 
straw.  This  matting  forms  the  carpet  of  Japan.  It  is 
not  made  like  that  which  is  sent  to  America.  It  is  woven 
in  miats  three  feet  wide,  six  feet  long,  and  about  twice  as 
thick  as  this  book.  These  are  bound  at  the  edges  with 
black  cloth,  and  they  are  fitted  together  closely,  so  that 


36 


JAPAN. 


the  floor  is  covered  with  panels  of  white  bordered  with 
black.  The  mats  are  of  the  same  size  all  over  Japan,  and 
the  size  of  a  room  is  known,  not  as  so  many  feet  wide  and 
so  many  feet  long,  but  by  the  number  of  mats  required  to 
cover  the  floor. 

How  is  the  house  heated .-"  There  are  no  stoves  in  sight, 
and  there  is  no  cellar  or  basement  in  which  a  furnace 
might  be  hidden.  The  house  has  no  chimney,  and  there 
are  no  signs  of  stovepipes.  The  heating  is  done  by  little 
brass-lined  boxes  filled  with  ashes,  in  the  center  of  which 
a  handful  of  charcoal  is  burning.     These  boxes  are  known 

as  hibachis  (hi-ba  -chez). 
They  are  common  all 
over  Japan.  They  form 
a  poor  means  of  heat- 
ing during  cold  weather, 
and,  as  winter  comes  on, 
the  people  keep  warm 
by  putting  on  more 
underclothing,  so  that  the  nation  appears  to  be  growing 
fatter  and  fatter  as  the  weather  grows  colder.  But  how 
can  they  cook  without  stoves  ?  They  have  little  clay  ovens 
in  which  they  put  charcoal,  and  boil  and  fry  over  the 
coals. 

Let  us  go  into  the  house.  As  we  approach,  a  little 
maidservant  comes  to  the  front.  She  gets  down  on  her 
knees,  spreads  out  her  hands  on  the  floor,  and  bumps  her 
little  head  on  the  mats  in  order  to  show  us  respect.  She 
asks  us  to  take  off  our  shoes  and  come  in.  The  Japanese 
never  wear  shoes  in  the  house,  and  we  have  already 
learned  that  it  would  be  far  more  polite  to  keep  our  hats 
on  than  our  shoes.  So  in  our  stocking  feet  we  step  up 
into  the  house,  and  take  our  seats  on  the  cushions. 


Hibachi. 


HOME  LIFE. 


37 


Very  soon  some  of  the  family  come  in.  They  bow  low, 
getting  down  on  their  knees  and  bending  again  and  again 
to  the  fioor.  As  they  rise,  they  suck  in  their  breath  with 
a  loud,  half-whistling  sigh,  as  though  they  were  overcome 
by  the  honor  which  we  are  conferring  upon  them  by  call- 
ing. We  do  the  same  as  we  bow  in  return.  Then  the 
maidservant  brings  in  a  little  box  of  charcoal  for  lighting 
our  pipes,  for  in  Japan  every  one  is  expected  to  smoke. 
She  next  fetches  a  little  tray  which  she  places  before  us 
on  the  floor.  It  contains  a  porcelain  teapot  and  some  little 
cups,  each  about  the  size  of  half  an  eggshell.  The  little 
servant  gets  down  on  her  knees  and  offers  them  to  us, 
with  a  bow.  We  drink  from  them  in  Japanese  style,  suck- 
ing the  tea  in  with  a  loud  sipping 
noise  to  show  that  we  like  it. 

Here  come  the  children  who  have 
been  playing  in  the  garden  back  of 
the  house.  They  are  dressed  like 
their  parents,  and  they  bow  to  us  in 
the  same  way.  They  are  very  re- 
spectful, for  to  have  a  bad  child  in 
Japan  is  disgraceful,  and  all  Japa- 
nese children  honor  their  parents.  The  mother  takes  one 
of  the  little  boys  in  her  arms,  and  rubs  her  cheeks  against 
his.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the  Japanese  show  their  affec- 
tion. They  do  not  kiss,  nor  do  they  shake  hands,  though 
boy  friends  and  girl  friends  often  go  about  with  their 
arms  around  one  another's  shoulders  or  waist,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  a  family  show  that  they  are  fond  of  each  other. 

What  is  that  on  this  little  one's  back  ? 

That  is  a  doll,  and  the  little  girl  is  carrying  her  baby. 
The  mothers  here  often  go  about  with  their  babies  tied 
to  their  backs,  and  the  children  sometimes  do  the  same 
3 


a  porcelain  teapot 


CARP.  ASIA- 


462536 


38 


JAPAN. 


with  their  dolls.  As  soon  as  a  girl  is  old  enough,  she  is 
taught  to  take  care  of  her  little  sister  in  this  way,  and 
as  we  ride  through  the  streets  we  shall  see  children  with 
live  babies  hung  to  their  shoulders.  A  girl  of  eight  or 
nine  years  sometimes  has  a  little  baby  tied  to  her  back, 
and  carries  it  about  as  she  plays.  The  baby  blinks  out 
of  its  queer  eyes  at  the  great  world  around  it,  and  when 
it  grows  tired  it  drops  its  head  on  its  shoulder  and  sleeps 
away  while  the  little  girl  nurse  goes  on 
making  mud  pies,  or  playing  with  a  ball, 
or  at  other  games. 

Our  Japanese  friends  invite  us  to  take 
supper  with  them  and  to  stay  over  night. 
They  entertain  us  in  the  parlors,  which, 
as  is  often  the  case  in  Japan,  are  at  the 
back  of  the  house.  Soon  they  tell  us 
that  the  bath  is  prepared,  and  as  the 
honored  guests  we  have  the  first  turn. 

The  Japanese  are  exceedingly  cleanly, 
and  every  well-to-do  home  has  its  own 
bathroom.  It  is  a  sign  of  good  breeding 
to  ask  a  guest  to  have  his  bath  first. 
The  custom  is  such  that  all  the  fam- 
ily, no  matter  how  many  the  children, 
bathe  in  the  same  water  and  in  the  same  tub,  and  the 
servants  get  in  at  the  last.  No  soap  is  used  until  after 
getting  out  of  the  tub,  and  the  body  is  finally  washed  off 
by  pouring  water  over  it  with  a  basin  after  the  soaping. 
There  are  public  baths  in  all  the  cities,  and  in  Tokyo  they 
number  eight  hundred,  in  which  three  hundred  thousand 
people  bathe  daily  at  a  cost  of  less  than  one  cent  for 
each  person,  so  that  even  the  poorest  can  keep  themselves 
clean. 


'  —  when  it  grows 
tired  —  " 


HOME   LIFE.  39 

The  little  maidservant  comes  and  leads  us  to  the  bath- 
room. It  is  a  clean  little  room  with  movable  walls  of  white 
pine.  She  pulls  one  section  of  the  walls  back,  and  we 
enter.  In  one  corner  of  the  room  a  stream  of  cold  water 
flows  through  a  wooden  pipe  into  a  barrel,  from  which  a 
trough  carries  it  off  into  a  little  brook  that  flows  through 
the  garden  outside.  From  this  barrel  we  shall  get  cold 
water  after  we  are  through  with  our  bath,  and  with  that 
shining  brass  basin  which  we  see  on  the  floor  we  can  pour 
cold  or  warm  water  over  our  bodies  after  using  the  soap. 

The  bath  tub  is  of  wood.  It  is  much  like  a  short,  oval 
barrel.  It  has  a  charcoal  fire  under  it,  with  a  stovepipe 
running  up  through  the  water  at  the  back  of  the  tub,  this 
pipe  being  protected  by  a  strip  of  white  pine  which  keeps 
one's  body  from  touching  it.  As  we  look,  the  water 
smokes  slightly,  but  it  seems  no  warmer  than  milk  when 
fresh  from  the  cow;  and,  having  undressed,  we  jump  in. 
Whew !  How  hot  it  is  !  The  water  is  almost  boiling,  and 
we  gasp  as  we  sink,  half  scalded,  to  the  bottom.  We 
climb  out  very  quickly,  finding  our  skins  now  as  red  as 
a  beet,  and  the  little  servant,  who  stands  outside  the  wall 
and  peeps  in,  giggles  as  she  enters  and  hands  us  our 
clothes.  The  Japanese  are 
fond  of  hot  baths,  and  the 
people  of  all  ages,  from 
grandparents  to  babies,  take 
them  every  day. 

By   this   time    supper    is 
ready,  and  we  shall  have  a  "°  ^^'^ 

Japanese  meal.  We  all  eat  together,  but  each  has  his  own 
table.  It  is  not  quite  a  foot  high,  and  we  sit  on  the  floor 
as  we  eat.  The  first  course  is  Japanese  wine  or  sa-ke 
with  sweet  cake  and  candy.     This  is  brought  in  by  our 


40 


JAPAN. 


Japanese  Family  at  Dinner 

little  maidservant,  who  gets  down  on  her  knees  and  bows 
low  as  she  hands  it  to  us.     Next  comes  a  soup  made  of 

beans,  and  with  it  raw  fish 
cut  in  slices  and  served  with 
a  queer  sauce  called  soy. 
This  is  of  a  dark  brown 
color,  and  is  made  of  a  mix- 
ture of  vinegar,  salt,  and  fer- 
mented wheat.  Then  there 
are  salads  and  pickles  of 
various  kinds.  There  are 
green  pears  as  hard  as 
stones,  so  served  because 
the  Japanese  like  this  fruit 
green. 

The  supper  closes  with  rice  and  tea.  The  rice  is 
brought  in  to  us  in  a  big,  round,  wooden  box  of  the  shape 
and  size  of  a  peck  measure.     It  is  offered  to  us  again  and 


"The  rice  is  brought  in — " 


HOME   LIFE. 


41 


again,  for  the  theory  is  that  no  one  need  go  away  hungry 
if  he  has  plenty  of  rice.  The  tea  is  served  in  little  cups, 
but  we  notice  that  our  Japanese  friends  sometimes  pour 
their  tea  into  their  rice. 

Throughout  the  meal  we  watch  our  friends  eat,  and  as 
far  as  possible  act  like  them.  The  soup  is  offered  to  us 
in  bowls,  the  size  of  a  large  coffee  cup.  Each  of  us  has 
a  bowl,  and  we  drink  the  soup  by  raising  it  to  our  lips. 
The  fish,  rice,  and  salads  we  try  to  eat  with  our  chopsticks, 
but  this  we  find  very  hard  to 
do.  If  you  will  take  two 
slate  pencils,  balance  them 
between  the  two  first  fingers 
and  the  thumb  of  your  right 
hand,  and  try  to  pick  up 
grains  of  rice  and  bits  of 
hash  with  their  ends,  you  can  see 
with  what  difficulty  the  first  Jap- 
Even  well-to-do  people  of 
more  than  two  courses  at  a  meal. 
a  day,  —  a  breakfast  on  rising,  a 
another  meal  at  sunset.  The 
their  tables  are  well  prepared.  The  Japanese  make  deli- 
cious fish  soups,  and  they  broil  and  fry  fish,  making  dishes 
fit  for  a  king.  They  eat  but  little  meat,  and  they  do  not 
have  butter  or  cheese.  Rice  forms  the  chief  part  of  the 
food  eaten  by  most  of  the  people,  but  some  are  so  poor 
that  they  cannot  afford  rice,  and  millet,  a  kind  of  grass 
seed,  and  other  grains  are  used  in  its  stead. 

The  supper  over,  the  family  sit  around  on  the  floor  and 
chat.  The  neighbors  come  in,  and  all,  both  women  and 
men,  smoke  little  pipes  as  they  talk.  The  children  play 
games.     Those  who    are    in    school    perhaps    study  their 


anese  meal  is  eaten. 

Japan  seldom  have 

They  eat  three  meals 

dinner  at  noon,  and 

esss    and    fowl    on 


42 


JAPAN. 


lessons  for  the  morrow,  and  the  httle  girls  play  with  their 
dolls.  And  so  our  evening  passes  until  the  time  comes 
for  sleep.  Then  there  is  a  commotion.  The  servants  go 
out  to  shut  up  for  the  night.  They  pull  the  sliding  walls 
to,  until  the  whole  house  becomes  a  well-closed  box,  and 
the  only  ventilation  is  through  the  cracks  at  the  corners. 


Japanese  Bed. 

We  have  been  wondering  all  the  time  where  we  should 
sleep.  We  have  gone  through  the  house,  and  so  far  have 
seen  no  sign  of  a  bed.  Our  little  maidservant  takes  us 
upstairs.  She  slides  back  a  board  which  hides  a  recess 
in  the  wall,  and  pulls  out  armful  after  armful  of  soft,  thick 
quilts  or  comforts.  She  lays  these  on  the  floor,  one  on  top 
of  another,  and  turns  down  the  last  one  for  a  cover.  We 
look  for  the  sheets,  and  are  told  that  the  Japanese  do  not 


THE   EMPEROR   AND    HIS   GOVERNMENT.  43 

use  them.     Then  we  ask  for  pillows,  and  the  maid  gives 

each  of  us  a  block  of  wood  about  the  size  of  a  brick.    This 

stands  on  its  side,  and  has  a  roll  of 

soft  paper  on  top.    We  are  expected 

to  put  them  under  our  necks,  and  let 

our  heads  hang  over  the  edges  while 

we  sleep.     We  try  it,  but  find  that, 

though  they  do  for  Japan,  they  will 

not  do  for  America  ;  so  we  roll  up        ""  '^"  "''"  °^  ^  ^""'^  " 

our  coats  and  use  them  instead,  and  are  soon  dreaming  of 

home. 


V.    THE   EMPEROR   AND    HIS    PALACES. 

WE  shall  visit  to-day  some  of  the  high  officials  of 
Japan,  and  shall  learn  something  of  how  the 
empire  is  governed.  The  emperor  rules  through  his  cab- 
inet and  parliament,  and  our  first  journey  will  be  to  his 
majesty's  palaces.  He  has  a  vast  estate  in  the  heart  of 
Tokyo,  made  up  of  hill  and  valley,  and  containing  lakes 
and  woods  and  several  acres  of  one-story  palaces.  The 
grounds,  as  we  have  seen,  are  surrounded  by  wide  moats, 
and  upon  the  water  magnificent  lotus  flowers  float  on  their 
green  leaves.  We  cross  the  moats  on  bridges  of  marble, 
and,  passing  soldiers  and  servants  in  European  clothes, 
find  ourselves  in  the  home  of  the  Japanese  ruler. 

The  palaces  are  of  wood,  built  much  after  the  style  of 
the  Japanese  temples,  of  which  we  shall  learn  later  on. 
They  have  hundreds  of  rooms,  and  many  of  the  walls 
consist  of  sliding  screens  of  plate  glass,  which  move  in 
grooves  and  can  be  pushed  back  so  that  many  rooms  can 
be  thrown  into  one.     Some  of  the  ceilings  are  decorated 


44  JAPAN. 

with  the  finest  embroideries,  and  one  room  is  ceiled  with 
woven  gold  tapestry  that  cost  ten  thousand  dollars.  The 
walls  of  the  other  rooms  are  covered  with  brocaded  silks 
as  fine  as  that  of  a  ball  dress,  and  the  inlaid  floors  have 
matting  almost  as  soft  as  a  velvet  carpet. 

There  are  all  sorts  of  flowers  in  the  emperor's  gardens, 
and  his  lakes  are  filled  with  many  kinds  of  fish.  He  has 
large  ponds,  fed  by  canals,  where  he  takes  part  with  his 
nobles  in  the  netting  of  ducks.  This  is  a  favorite  amuse- 
ment of  the  rich  Japanese.  There  are  many  wild  ducks 
about  Tokyo,  and,  as  they  fly  over  the  palace  grounds, 
they  are  enticed  to  alight  by  means  of  decoy-ducks  which 
float  on  the  emperor's  ponds.  Other  decoys  are  scattered 
along  the  little  canals  which  run  out  from  the  ponds,  and 
which  are  so  lined  with  trees  and  bushes  that  a  man  can 
easily  hide  on  their  banks.  Grain  is  scattered  about  in  the 
canals  as  bait,  and  when  the  ducks  swim  after  this,  the 
emperor  and  his  nobles,  concealed  in  the  bushes,  catch 
them  by  throwing  nets  over  their  heads.  It  requires  great 
skill  to  throw  a  net  properly,  and  the  princes  are  said  to 
delight  in  the  sport. 

You  must  not  think,  however,  that  duck  netting  is  the 
chief  business  of  the  Japanese  ruler.  He  is  a  hard-working 
monarch,  and  most  of  his  time  is  occupied  in  managing  the 
government  of  his  country.  His  cabinet  ministers  bring 
him  daily  reports  from  all  parts  of  his  empire,  and  he  has 
the  American  newspapers  translated,  so  that  he  can  tell 
what  they  are  saying  about  Japan. 

The  emperor's  quarters  in  the  palace  are  entirely 
separate  and  apart  from  those  of  the  empress.  Her 
majesty  has  a  complete  court  of  her  own,  with  her  sec- 
retaries and  servants.  She  is  at  the  head  of  all  move- 
ments for  the  advancement  of  Japanese  women.     Like 


THE   EMPEROR   AND    HIS   GOVERNMENT. 


45 


his  majesty,  the  empress  now  wears  foreign  clothes  upon 
state  occasions.  She  has  abandoned  the  old  Japanese 
custom  whereby  a  wife  shaved  off  her  eyebrows  and 
blackened  her  teeth  in  order  to  show  her  devotion  to  her 
husband  by  making  herself  so  ugly  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  any  one  else  to  admire  her.  This  horrible  fashion, 
however,  has  prevailed  widely  in  Japan  until  lately,  and, 
as  we  shall  see,  it  still  exists  in 
some  parts  of  the  country. 

We  pass  many  policemen  on 
our  way  back  from  the  palace, 
and  see  that  good  order  is  every- 
where kept.  The  police  dress 
in  clothing  much. like  that  which 
we  wear,  but  they  all  carry 
swords.  They  tie  their  prison- 
ers with  ropes,  and  drive  or  drag 
them  on  the  way  to  the  jail. 
Japan  has  now  as  good  a  police 
system  as  ours,  and  there  are 
police  stations  scattered  all  over 
the  empire.  There  are  many 
detectives,  and  the  spy  system  of  the  Emperor  of  Japan 
is  almost  as  efficient  as  that  of  the  Czar  of  Russia. 

In  making  our  tour  through  the  country,  we  learn  that 
we  must  have  passports,  or  papers  showing  just  who  we 
are  and  where  we  are  going.  Each  passport  must  contain 
the  name  of  the  owner  and  a  full  description  of  just  how 
he  looks.  It  gives  his  age  and  height,  and  tells  whether 
his  eyes  are  brown,  blue,  black,  or  gray.  These  papers 
will  be  asked  for  at  every  city  or  village  we  visit,  and  the 
hotel  keepers  must  see  them  before  they  will  give  us  our 
rooms.      Every  foreigner  in  the  Japanese  Empire  must 


"They  tie  their  prisoners 


46  JAPAN. 

have  a  paper  of  this  kind ;  and  if  he  cannot  show  it  upon 
the  demand  of  the  police,  he  is  regarded  as  a  suspicious 
character,  and  may  be  thrown  into  prison.  In  this  way 
the  emperor  knows  just  who  are  in  his  country,  and  what 
they  are  doing,  and  he  can  tell  almost  to  a  man  where 
every  stranger  sleeps  every  night.  His  own  people  are 
not  allowed  to  leave  the  country  without  the  permission 
of  the  government,  and  those  who  break  the  laws  are 
almost  sure  to  be  punished. 

Japan  now  has  good  courts.  It  has  hundreds  of 
lawyers,  and  every  man  is  allowed  a  fair  trial.  The 
greatest  penalty  permitted  is  death  by  hanging,  and  for 
small  offenses  the  fines  are  sometimes  as  low  as  five 
cents. 

In  the  past,  the  laws  were  made  by  the  shogun  and 
the  emperor.  Now  the  Japanese  people  make  laws  for 
themselves  through  their  Houses  of  Parliament.  The 
Upper  House  is  composed  of  the  nobles,  and  the  most 
of  the  members  are  chosen  by  the  nobility,  though  some 
receive  their  appointment  directly  from  the  emperor.  The 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  are  elected  by 
the  people.  Every  Japanese  man  has  to  be  twenty-five 
years  old  before  he  can  vote,  and  a  voter  must  have 
enough  property  so  that  his  taxes  amount  to  at  least 
fifteen  dollars  a  year. 

The  Houses  of  Parliament  have  officers  much  like  our 
Houses  of  Congress.  The  members  make  speeches,  and 
they  discuss  all  measures  relating  to  public  affairs.  They 
vote  all  the  money  that  is  to  be  used  in  carrying  on  the 
government,  with  the  exception  of  the  emperor's  house- 
hold expenses,  with  which  they  have  nothing  to  do.  The 
people  of  Japan  formerly  had  but  few  rights.  They  were 
forced  to  pay  such  taxes  as  were  demanded  by  the  nobles 


THE   EMPEROR  AND    HIS   GOVERNMENT. 


47 


and  the  army.     Now  they  fix  their  own  taxes,  and  every- 
thing is  fair  and  just. 

The  parliament  buildings  are  situated  in  Tokyo,  not  far 
from  the  palace.  There  is  a  big  wall  around  them  which 
is  entered  by  gates,  and  when  the  houses  are  in  session 
you  see  on  each  side  of  these  gates  about  five  hundred 
black  jinrikishas,  with  barelegged  men  in  butter-bowl  hats, 


Parliament  House,  Interior. 

tights,  and  blue  jackets,  sitting  in  them,  waiting  for  their 
employers,  the  members  of  parliament,  to  come  out. 

Leaving  the  parliament  buildings,  it  is  but  a  short  drive 
to  the  Department  of  War,  where  the  officers  sta}-  who 
control  all  matters  relating  to  the  Japanese  armv.  The 
emperor  has  now  one  of  the  best  armies  of  the  world  ; 
every  Japanese  boy  of  seventeen  years  is  expected  to 
enter  some  branch  of  it,  and  after  he  becomes  a  man  he 
has  seven  years  to  serve  as  a  soldier. 


48 


JAPAN. 


The  rifle  used  by  the  army  was  invented  by  a  Japanese, 
and  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  world.  The  soldiers  are 
trained  by  officers,  many  of  whom  have 
been  educated  in  the  German  army, 
and  it  was  this  training  that  enabled 
the  little  Japanese  nation  to  conquer 
the  great  nation  of  China,  which  has 
about  ten  times  as  many  people.  Japan 
has  a  fine  modern  navy,  and  its  war- 
ships are  e<qual  to  those  of  the  great 
nations  of  Europe. 

We  shall  find  that  one  of  the  most 
important  officers  of  the  emperor's  cabi- 
net is  the  minister  of  communications. 
His  department  has  to  do  with  the  postal 
and  telegraph  systems  of  the  empire. 
In  the  past,  all  letters  in  Japan  were 
carried  by  messengers,  whose  costume 
consisted   chiefly  of   a  cloth  about  the 
waist,  and  of  a  rich  coat  of  tattooing. 
The  service  was  so  expensive  that  only 
the  rich  could   afford   to   send  letters. 
Now  Japan  has  a  postal  system  like 
ours,  and  letters  are  sent  to  all  parts 
of  the  country  for  two  cents  apiece. 

An  American  from  our  Post  Office 
Department  at  Washington  went  to 
Japan  and  showed  the  emperor  how 
we  carried  our  letters,  and  he  ordered 
that  his  officers  should  introduce  the 
same  methods  there.  The  Japanese 
now  make  their  own  postage  stamps.  They  have  postal 
cards,  and   if  we  call  at  the  Post  Office  Department,  we 


Japanese  Postage  Stamps. 


THE   EMPEROR  AND    HIS   GOVERNMENT. 


49 


ini,iiiiiH!iiii.'ii!!in!!(ra) 

•a 


can  learn  that  the  postal  service  in  one  year  carried  over 
three  hundred  million  letters,  and  more  than  eighty  mil- 
lion newspapers  and  periodicals. 

We  shall  meet  Japanese  post- 
men on  the  streets  of  every  city 
we  visit.  They  wear  blue  clothes, 
and  their  blue-mittened  feet  rest 
on  straw  sandals.  They  deliver 
their  letters  at  all  the  houses,  and 
collect  from  the  street  postal 
boxes,  just  as  our  American  post- 
men do.  The  telegraph  system 
is  equally  good.  All  the  lines  be- 
long to  the  government,  and  you 
can  telegraph  more  cheaply  in 
Japan  than  in  America. 

We  visit  also  the  Treasury  De- 


"They  have  postal  card 


"We  shall  meet  Japanese  post- 
men —  " 

five-sen  pieces  of  silver. 


partment,  one  division  of  which 
makes  the  money  of  Japan.  The 
Japanese  use  gold,  silver,  copper, 
and  paper  as  money.  They  have 
a  banking  system  much  like  that 
of  the  United  States,  and  in  the 
Bureau  of  Engraving  they  make 
their  own  bank  notes.  The  unit 
is  the  yen,  which  is  a  silver  coin 
of  the  size  and  shape  of  our  silver 
dollar.  Each  yen  contains  one 
hundred  sen,  or  cents,  and  each 
sen  contains  ten  rin.  There  are 
fifty-sen,  twenty-sen,  ten-sen,  and 
There  are  nickel  coins  worth  five 


sen,  and  copper  pieces  of  two  sen,  one  sen,  one  half  sen. 


50  JAPAN. 

and  one  rin,  or  one  tenth  of  a  sen.  The  paper  money  is 
in  bills  of  one  yen,  five  yen,  ten  yen,  and  upwards,  the  bills 
being  wider  than,  but  not  so  long  as,  our  national  bank 
notes. 

VI.     JAPANESE   CHILDREN   AT   SCHOOL   AND 
AT  PLAY. 

JAPAN  now  has  public  schools,  and  the  little  yellow- 
skinned,  slant-eyed  Japanese  can  have  an  education 
almost  equal  to  that  of  children  in  the  United  States.  In 
the  Japanese  cities  there  are  more  than  one  hundred  kin- 
dergartens, where  little  girls  and  boys  of  from  three  to  six 
years  begin  their  school  life.  All  children  are  compelled 
by  law  to  attend  school  from  their  sixth  to  their  tenth 
year,  and  there  are  advanced  grades  for  those  who  wish  to 
study  longer. 

Many  Japanese  families  are  so  poor  that  they  need  the 
help  of  their  children  who  are  more  than  ten  years  old ; 
and  such  children  are  then  put  to  work  in  the  fields,  in 
stores,  at  trades,  or  in  the  factories.  Thousands  of  boys, 
however,  are  kept  at  school  until  they  are  grown  up,  hav- 
ing most  of  the  studies  taught  in  our  country.  Hundreds 
attend  the  colleges  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  different 
Japanese  cities,  and  many  graduate  yearly  at  the  Imperial 
University  at  Tokyo. 

The  empress  has  established  a  girls'  school  at  the  capi- 
tal, where  the  daughters  of  princes  and  nobles  are  edu- 
cated. Here  they  study  French,  German,  and  English, 
and  learn  everything  fitted  to  make  them  good  wives  for 
the  men  who  are  to  govern  Japan  when  they  are  grown  up. 

The  studies  of  Japanese  children  are  more  difficult  than 


CHILDREN   AT   SCHOOL   AND   AT   PLAY.  5  I 

ours.  We  have  only  twenty-six  letters  in  our  alphabet. 
The  Japanese  have  forty-seven  in  theirs,  and  there  are  so 
many  word  signs  in  addition  that  an  educated  man  must 
know  thousands  of  characters.  Many  of  the  signs  mean 
whole  words  or  short  sentences,  and  there  are  curious 
endings  and  crooks  which  have  to  be  learned. 

Let  us  visit  a  primary  school,  —  not  one  of  the  new  city 
schools,  some  of  which  now  have  desks  like  our  own,  but 
one  of  the  common  primary  schools,  such  as  we  shall  find 
all  over  the  country.  It  is  early  in  -the  morning,  and  the 
children,  dressed  in  gowns,  stand  about  with  their  books 
in  little  satchels  hung  from  their  backs. 

Here  comes  the  teacher.  We  can  hear  him  afar  off,  as 
he  clatters  along  on  his  wooden  sandals.  He  wears  a 
gown  of  dark  gray,  and  has  spectacles  covering  his  eyes. 
As  he  approaches,  the  children  bow  down  almost  to  their 
knees,  and  as  they  rise  they  suck  in  their  breath  as  a 
polite  mark  of  respect.  The  teacher  does  likewise,  and 
he  smiles  upon  them  as  he  comes  up  to  the  house,  and, 
placing  his  sandals  on  the  ground,  walks  over  the  white 
mats  on  the  floor  of  the  schoolroom  and  takes  his  seat 
under  the  blackboard.  He  may  have  a  chair,  or  he  may 
sit  on  the  fioor  with  a  low  desk  before  him. 

The  scholars  as  they  come  in  leave  their  sandals  in 
order  outside.  They  squat  in  their  stocking  feet  on  the 
floor  mats,  and  study  with  their  books  on  their  knees. 

How  queer  the  books  arc !  They  begin  at  the  back 
instead  of  the  front,  and  the  lines  run  up  and  down  the 
page  instead  of  across  it.  What  curious  letters !  They 
remind  us  of  the  Chinese  characters  which  we  see  on  the 
tea  boxes,  and  they  seem  almost  alike. 

Here  is  a  class  of  five  boys  learning  their  letters.  The 
teacher  makes  the  characters  on  the  blackboard,  and  the 


52 


JAPAN. 


boys  copy  thcni  on  sheets  of  paper,  singing  out  their 
names  as  they  do  so.  Do  they  write  with  pencils  or 
pens  ?     No,  they  have  brushes  much  Hke  those  we  use  for 

water  colors,  and  they  paint  the 
letters  with  black  India  ink. 
Notice  how  they  hold  the  brush 
as  they  write.  Their  hands  do 
not  touch  the  paper,  the  brush 
is  almost  vertical,  and  instead 
of  writing,  as  we  do,  across  the 
page  from  left  to  right,  they 
begin  on  the  right  hand  of  the 
sheet,  and  paint  their  lines  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom.  Each 
child  has  an  ink  stone  beside 
him.  Upon  this  he  puts  a  few 
A  Writing  Lesson.  ^^^.^^^  ^^  watcr,  and  then  rubs 

the  stone  with  a  little  black  cake  of  India  ink,  thus  making 
his  own  ink  as  he  writes.  No  blotters  are  needed.  The 
paper  is  soft  and  porous,  and  sucks  in  the  ink  as  it  comes 
from  the  brush. 

There  is  a  little  boy  learning  to  count  with  the  soroban, 
an  aid  to  calculation  by 
which  the  Japanese,  to 
a  large  extent,  dispense 
with  mental  arithmetic. 
It  is  a  box  of  wooden  but- 
tons strung  upon  wires, 
as  wide  as  this  book  and 
about  a  foot  long,  like 
the  one  we  saw  the  bookkeeper  use  in  the  store. 


The  Soroban. 


The 


buttons  represent  units,  tens,   hundreds,   thousands,   etc., 
and  by  moving  them  up  and  down,  the  Japanese  boy  is 


CHILDREN   AT   SCHOOL   AND   AT   PLAY.  53 

able  to  do  sums  of  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and 
division ;  and  it  is  said  that  any  sum  in  arithmetic  can  be 
done  in  this  way  upon  the  soroban,  even  to  extracting 
square  and  cube  root. 

In  some  of  the  schools  we  shall  find  translations  of 
American  tc.xt-books,  and  many  of  the  scholars  will  tell 
us  that  they  think  their  hardest  study  is  English,  because 
everything  connected  with  it  seems  to  go  wrong  end  fore- 
most. They  must  begin  at  what  seems  to  them  the  wrong 
end  of  the  book.  They  write  from  the  other  side  of  the 
page,  and  the  sentences  seem  to  go  across  the  page  the 
wrong  way.  They  also  find  the  pen  very  awkward  to 
handle,  but  they  feel  that  they  must  learn  to  write  English, 
for  the  government  officials  and  the  best  business  men  of 
Japan  now  understand  this  language  and  use  it. 

In  the  past,  the  boys  of  the  upper  classes  looked  for- 
ward to  the  day  when  they  could  go  about  wearing  two 
swords,  and  when  their  chief  business  would  be  fighting. 
Now  "the  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword,"  for  Japan  has 
become  a  land  of  books  and  newspapers.  It  has  large 
bookstores  and  great  printing  establishments.  There  are 
now  published  thirty-five  Japanese  magazines  devoted  to 
law.  There  are  scores  of  different  papers  treating  of 
farming.  There  are  all  kinds  of  scientific  journals,  and 
daily  newspapers  are  sold  in  all  the  cities.  We  meet 
many  Japanese  newsboys,  who  go  about  the  streets,  each 
ringing  a  bell  as  the  sign  that  he  has  papers  for  sale. 

The  Japanese  newspapers,  like  the  books,  begin  at  the 
back.  Their  columns  are  wider  than  those  of  our  papers, 
and  run  horizontally  across  the  page  instead  of  up  and 
down  it.  The  lines  run  up  and  down  the  columns  instead 
of  across  them,  and  you  begin  to  read  at  the  top  of  a  line 
instead  of  at  the  side.     You  read  to  the  bottom  of  the 

CARP.  ASIA 4 


u'r 

ni 

I'lij  «« 

^is■. 


JpSP     i«"i  ',"i.bi°'    *""-""'' "'■"^■"i^l'^! 


;■£: 


e   «>!»  4    »  1  iV?,'*  nil   T  .ii«        ainanTT-ii        as  >  OiJinSaBlS    iltr  ■■  •i-.t.WK  •.nri.'A  m 


Japanese  Newspaper,  One  Page. 


CHILDREN   AT   SCHOOL   AND   AT   PLAY.  55 

first  line,  and  then  go  to  the  top  of  the  one  next  to  the 
left,  and  so  on  until  you  come  to  the  end  of  the  sentence. 
This  is  marked  by  a  Japanese  period,  which  is  a  little 
circle,  instead  of  the  dot  we  use.  The  newspapers  con- 
tain advertisements,  editorials,  and  all  kinds  of  telegraphic 
dispatches. 

It  takes  a  vast  number  of  characters  to  form  the  type 
for  one  issue  of  a  Japanese  paper,  and  sometimes  a  thou- 
sand different  letters  may  be  used  on  the  same  page.  The 
characters  are  so  many  that  in  a  Japanese  printing  ofificc 
a  number  of  boys  are  employed  to  run  about  through  the 
cases  and  collect  the  type  for  the  compositors,  who  call 
out  the  names  of  the  letters  they  want. 

How  about  play  ?  Are  the  lives  of  Japanese  children 
made  up  of  nothing  but  school  and  hard  work  ?  No,  in- 
deed ;  they  play  fully  as  hard  as  they  study,  and  they 
have  as  much  fun  as  any  boys  and  girls  in  the  world. 
They  have  all  sorts  of  playthings,  and  there  are  toy  stores 
in  all  the  cities.  There  are  peddlers  who  wander  about 
through  the  country  selling  nothing  but  toys,  and  there 
are  men  who  carry  little  ovens  or  stoves  with  real  fire  in 
them  about  the  streets,  and  who  have  sweet  dough  for 
sale.  A  boy  or  girl  can  rent  a  stove  for  an  hour  for  less 
than  five  cents,  and  the  stove  man  will  furnish  the  dough, 
and  look  on  while  the  child  makes  up  cakes  and  bakes 
them.  Sometimes  the  man  cuts  out  Japanese  letters,  and 
the  child  cooks  them  and  learns  their  names  as  it  plays. 
There  are  men  who  sit  in  the  streets  and  mold  animals, 
jinrikishas,  and  other  things  of  rice  paste  for  children, 
according  to  their  orders,  for  a  very  small  sum. 

The  dressing  of  dolls  is  a  great  pastime  for  girls.  There 
are  three  days  of  every  year  during  which  all  the  peo- 
ple celebrate  what  is  called  the  Feast  of  Dolls.     At  this 


56 


JAPAN. 


time  all  the  dolls  which  have  been  kept  in  the  family  for 
generations  are  brought  forth,  set  upon  shelves  covered 
with  red  cloth,  and  admired.  Some  of  them  represent 
the  emperor  and  the  empress,  and  are  treated  with  great 
honor,  receiving  the  best  food  of  the  play  feasts,  to  which 
the  dolls  are  treated  three  times  a  day.  After  the  three 
days  are  ended,  these  dolls  are  put  away,  but  the  little 


" —  selling  nothing  but  toys  — " 

Japanese  girl  has  other  dolls  with  which  she  plays  the 
year  round. 

There  is  also  a  day  devoted  to  the  boys.  We  shall 
know  it  by  seeing  great  balloonlike  paper  fishes  floating 
in  the  air  from  sticks  fastened  to  the  roof  of  each  house 
in  which  a  boy  baby  has  been  born  during  the  year,  and 
also  from  other  houses  where  the  parents  are  glad  they 
have  boys.  The  Japanese  boys  have  kites  of  all  kinds 
and  shapes.     Some  are  singing  kites,  which  make  a  music 


CHILDREN  AT  SCHOOL  AND  AT  PLAY.        57 

like  that  of  an  yEolian  harp  as  they  float  in  the  air,  kept 
steady  by  two  long  tails,  one  tied  to  each  lower  corner. 
Others  are  made  in  the  shapes  of  dragons  and  babies, 
eagles  and  butterflies,  and  all  sorts  of  animals. 

Some  kites  have  their  strings  soaked  with  glue  into 
which  powdered  glass  is  dusted,  for  a  length  of  thirty  feet 
from  the  kite.  When  the  glue  hardens,  this  part  of  the 
string  becomes  as  sharp  as  a  file.  These  are  called  fight- 
ing kites.  The  boys  try  to  get  the  strings  of  two  of 
them  crossed  while  in  the  air,  and  each  pulls  his  kite  this 
way  and  that  until  one  of  the  glass-powdered  strings 
saws  the  other  in  two.  In  such  cases  the  owner  of  the 
victorious  kite  is  entitled  to  the  one  which  has  been  cut 
loose. 

Japanese  children  have  games  of  instruction,  as  well  as 
games  of  pure  play.  They  have  block  maps  made  of 
pieces,  and  by  putting  these  together  they  learn  the  shape 
of  Japan  and  of  the  world.  They  have  a  game  much  like 
our  "Authors,"  called  "  One  Hundred  Verses  of  One  Hun- 
dred Poets,"  which  teaches  them  the  names  and  best  say- 
ings of  the  great  Japanese  scholars.  Many  of  the  games 
they  play  teach  them  lessons  in  morals.  For  instance,  one 
of  their  games  is  like  our  "  Pussy  wants  a  corner;"  but 
in  Japan  the  "pussy"  is  known  by  a  name  which  repre- 
sents a  Japanese  devil,  and  the  corners  of  the  room  are 
called  the  Harbors  of  Truth,  in  which  places  only  can 
safety  be  found. 

The  Japanese  have  two  great  religions.  One  is  called 
Shin'to-ism.  It  is  the  oldest  religion  of  Japan,  and  con- 
sists largely  of  the  worship  of  the  heroes  of  Japanese  his- 
tory. The  other  is  Buddhism,  which  was  introduced  into 
Japan  about  600  a.d.,  and  of  which  we  shall  learn  more 
in  Siam  and  India.     Connected  with  these  religions  there 


58 


JAPAN. 


are  gods  of  all  kinds,  and  many  persons  have  their  favorite 
gods.  Every  Japanese  house  has  a  little  shrine  in  it,  before 
which  the  people  place  offerings  and  pray  ;  and  there  are 
public  shrines  and  temples  devoted  to  religion  in  all  parts 
of  Japan.  Some  of  these  are  considered  especially  holy, 
and  pilgrims  by  the  thousands,  with  staves  in  their  hands 
and  with  baggage  tied  to  their  backs,  walk  from  one  holy 
place  to  another  to  offer  their  prayers. 

We  meet  Buddhist  priests,  who  go  about  with  shaved 
heads,   and   we    spend    hours    in    admiring   the   beautiful 

temples  which  have  been 
erected  to  Buddha.  They 
are  one-story  structures  of 
wood,  with  heavy  roofs  of 
black  tiles.  Many  of  them 
are  of  vast  extent,  and  the 
interiors  of  some  are  gor- 
geous with  carvings.  Some 
temples  have  rooms  papered 
with  gold  leaf  and  walled 
with  paintings  by  the  Japa- 
nese masters,  and  many  of 
them  contain  images  plated 
with  gold. 

Japan  has  one  statue  of 
Buddha  which  is  among  the 
great  art  works  of  the  world.  This  we  visit  at  Kamaku'ra, 
a  small  town  on  the  seacoast  not  far  from  Yokohama. 
The  statue  is  made  of  bronze  plates  so  fitted  together 
that  the  joints  cannot  be  seen.  It  is  known  as  the  Dai 
Butzu  (di  boot'soo).  It  is  an  immense  sitting  figure  as 
tall  as  a  four-story  house.  We  get  some  idea  of  its  size 
when  we   find  that  its  bronze  thumbs  are  so  large  that 


Japanese  Priest. 


FARMS   AND    FARM  I  NT,. 


59 


as  tall  as  a  four-story  house." 


two  men  can  sit  on  one  of  them  and  have  room  to  spare, 
and  that  its  eyes,  which  are  of  gold,  are  each  three  feet 


in  length. 


^1=^^*^ 


VII.    JAPANESE    FARMS    AND    FARMERS. 

THE  country  scenes  are  among  the  most  interesting 
sights  of  Japan.  Let  us  leave  Tokyo  and  make  a 
tour  overland  to  the  cities  in  the  central  jiart  of  the 
empire.  Mow  shall  we  travel .''  We  might  go  by  railroad, 
and,  in  cars  much  like  ours,  could  ride  from  one  town  to 


6o 


JAPAN. 


another  almost  as  fast  as  on  our  trains  at  home.  We 
should  find  the  cars  filled  with  Japanese  people,  and  might 
note  that  many  of  the  girls  and  boys,  not  used  to  foreign 
benches  and  chairs,  squat  on  the  cushions,  with  their  feet 

tucked  beneath  them. 
Japan  is  fast  building 
railroads.  Great  trunk 
lines  now  connect  all 
the  main  centers,  and 
the  rates  of  fare  are  ex- 
ceedingly low. 

The  railroad,  how- 
ever, is  too  quick  for 
our  journey.  We  want 
to  see  something  of 
Japanese  farms,  and  to 
learn  how  the  people 
live  in  the  country.  So 
we  will  take  jinrikishas, 
with  two  men  to  each 
carriage,  and  will  ride 
One  man  will 


"  —  cars  filled  with  Japanese  people  —  " 

almost  as  fast  as  though  we  had  horses 
pull  in  the  shafts,  and  the  other  will  push  hard  behind 
when  we  go  up  the  hills,  or  by  a  rope  will  harness  himself 
to  the  front  and  run  on  ahead.  We  soon  get  over  our 
shame  at  driving  our  almond-eyed  brothers,  and  we  poke 
our  human  steeds  in  the  back  and  urge  them  to  hurry. 

We  find  the  roads  very  good.  There  are  villages  every 
few  miles,  and  we  stay  at  night  in  country  hotels,  where 
we  must  sleep  on  the  floor.  The  landlord's  children  watch 
us  with  wonder  as  we  come  in.  When  we  have  gone  to 
our  rooms,  they  may  poke  their  fingers  through  the  paper 
walls,  and,  gluing  their  eyes  to  the   holes,  see  how  the 


FARMS   AND   FARMING. 


6l 


Strange  foreigners  look  as  they  take  off  their  clothes  and 
prepare  to  go  to  sleep.  Some  of  them  have  never  before 
seen  an  American,  and  our  straight  eyes  and  fair  faces 
seem  to  them  very  queer. 

We  have  some  rainy  days  on  our  journey,  during  which 
we  pass  many  travelers  wearing  the  waterproof  cloak  of 
Japan.  This  is  a  sort  of  shawl  of  rice  straw  which  hangs 
from  the  shoulders,  and  which,  with  the  big  straw  hat 
above  it,  makes  the  wearer  look  like  a  gigantic  yellow 
bird  trotting  along  through  the  fields.  We  cross  now  and 
then  over  mountains  so  steep  that  we  must  leave  our  jin- 
rikishas  and  be  carried  by  men  in  conveyances  known 
as  ka-gos.  The  kago  is  a 
basket-work  chair  hung  to 
a  long  pole,  which  is  car- 
ried on  the  shoulders  of 
men.  You  squat  in  the 
chair  crosslegged,  and  hold 
on  for  dear  life  as  your  men 
carry  you  along  precipices, 
over  the  stones  of  rushing 
mountain  streams,  going  up 
hill  and  down. 

We  pass  through  much 
beautiful  scenery.  Japan 
is  made  up  of  mountains 
and  valleys,  and  the  moist 
air  keeps  nature  refresh- 
ingly green.  The  moun- 
tains feed  many  short  rivers,  and  brooks  by  the  hundreds 
gurgle  down  the  green  hills.  The  Japanese  understand 
the  science  of  irrigation,  and  some  of  those  streams  are 
dammed   up   in   the  mountains,  and   the  water   is   carried 


the  waterproof  cloak  of  Japan. 


62 


JAPAN. 


The  Kago. 

from  one  place  to  another  through  winding  ditches,  so 
that  one  stream  feeds  many  farms.  The  hills  are  often 
cut  into  different  levels  or  terraces,  over  which  the  streams 
flow  successively  on  their  way  to  the  valleys. 

The  mountainous  nature  of  Japan  is  such  that  less  than 
one  tenth  of  the  empire  is  under  cultivation;  but  that  tenth 
gives  more  than  half  of  the  people  constant  employment, 
and  it  produces  enough  to  feed  Japan's  entire  population. 
The  soil  for  farming  is  not  richer  than  ours,  but  the 
Japanese  so  increase  its  fertility  by  good  cultivation  that 
one  acre  often  produces  from  three  to  five  times  as  much 
as  the  same  space  does  in  America ;  and  it  is  said  that 
there  are  farms  in  Japan  which  for  centuries  have  pro- 
duced two  crops  every  year. 


FARMS   AND   FARMING. 


03 


How  queer  the  farms  arc  !  The  whole  country  looks 
like  a  vast  garden,  with  ponds  of  silvery-white  water 
showing  out  through  the  green.  There  are  no  very  large 
fields,  the  average  farm  being  less  than  two  acres  in  size. 
The  crops  are  of  all  shades  and  colors,  from  the  gold  of 
ripe  wheat  to  the  green  of  sprouting  rice.  We  look  over 
the   fields   in  vain  for    fences,   houses,   and    barns.     The 


A  Farmer's  House. 


Japanese  have  no  fences.  They  do  not  live  on  their 
farms,  but  in  villages  of  thatched  wooden  houses  strung 
along  the  main  roads.  There  is  no  need  of  barns,  as  the 
crops  are  sold  almost  as  soon  as  they  are  harvested. 

There  are  very  few  horses,  cows,  or  sheep.  In  some 
parts  of  the  empire  the  people  would  look  upon  sheep  as 
wild  animals,  and  a  cow  would  be  as  great  a  curiosity  as  the 
elephant  is  to  us.     The  horses  we  sec  arc  not  bigger  than 


64  JAPAN. 

good-sized  ponies.  They  are  used  chiefly  as  pack  horses, 
though  now  and  then  we  pass  one  hitched  to  a  cart  and 
led  by  a  big-hatted  peasant. 

We  notice  that  the  horses  are  shod  with  straw  shoes. 
The  straw  is  so  braided  that  it  forms  a  round  mat  about 
half  an  inch  thick,  which  is  fastened  to  the  animal's  foot 
by  straw  strings  running  around  the  leg  just  above  the 
hoof.  Each  pack  horse  has  a  stock  of  fresh  shoes  tied  to 
his  saddle,  and  the  farmer  who  leads  him  looks  now  and 
then  at  his  feet,  and  changes  his  shoes  as  soon  as  they 
become  worn.  Such  shoes  cost  less  than  one  cent  a  set. 
The  distances  through  the  country  districts  are  often  meas- 
ured by  the  number  of  shoes  which  the  horses  wear  out 
while  traveling  them,  and  it  is  said  that  the  average  horse- 
shoe will  last  for  a  walk  of  eight  miles. 

We  find  that  the  farmers  of  Japan  have  not  been  greatly 
affected  by  our  civilization.  They  think,  act,  and  live  much 
as  they  did  in  the  past,  and  we  observe  everywhere  the 
customs  of  the  old  Japan.  We  see  Japanese  women  whose 
heads  are  shaved  close  to  the  scalp,  and  who  have  no  sign 
of  eyebrows.  They  seem  homely  indeed,  and  upon  inquiry 
we  learn  that  they  are  widows  who  keep  their  heads  shaved 
in  order  to  show  their  grief  for  the  loss  of  their  husbands. 
We  see  many  women  who  look  very  pretty  until  they  open 
their  mouths ;  but  then  we  notice  that  their  teeth  are  as 
black  as  a  pair  of  new  rubber  shoes.  They  are  farm  wives 
who  are  destroying  their  beauty  to  show  their  husbands 
that  they  do  not  care  for  the  attentions  of  others.  The 
men  in  some  cases  have  their  heads  shaved  on  the  top, 
with  the  long  locks  at  the  side  and  the  back  fastened 
up  on  the  crown  of  the  head  in  a  stiff  queue  like  a  door 
knocker.  This  is  the  old  style  of  wearing  the  hair,  and 
was  the  usual  fashion  some  years  ago. 


FARMS   AND    FARMING. 


OS 


The  men  at  work  in  the  fields  wear  hardly  any  clothes, 
and  we  see  some  who  have  on  nothing  except  a  flat  hat  of 
white  straw,  as  big  as  a  parasol,  and  a  cloth  tied  around 
the  waist.  We  see  children  with  tools  on  their  shoulders, 
on  their  way  to  the  fields.  We  see  barefooted  women 
clad  in  big  hats  and  blue  cotton  gowns,  and  notice  that 
there  are  as  many  women  as  men  at  work  out  of 
doors.  The  women  and  men  work  side  by  side,  and 
the    children  have    their    share    in    the    toil.      How    hard 


m 

^PIPI 

WM 

H 

B^^^^ 

jr             ^M 

fli^^^ 

IBb. 

•*'*^'  -   J^^S 

f            '.  ^1 

^^^^P 

Bk.  ' 

^ 

EL.     ^^  *^  •'^Kif^^   ^  ^I^B 

IB 

.3; 

i 

^m 

-B 

^^S|^ 

Plowing  Rice  Ground. 

they  all  work !  They  dig  up  the  ground  with  mattock 
and  spade.  There  are  but  few  plows  or  other  modern 
implements,  and  all  sorts  of  seeds  are  planted  by  hand. 
The  harvesting  is  likewise  done  by  hand,  and  we  see 
that  it  is  human  muscle  which  makes  Japan's  broad. 

The  crops  are  of  all  kinds,  for  nearly  everything  can  be 
raised  in  Japan.  We  see  patches  of  wheat  and  barley,  of 
tobacco  and  cotton,  and  of  other  plants  which  are  strange 
to  our  eyes.  Wc  go  through  thousands  of  rice  fields.  Rice 
is  the  most  important  crop  of  the  country,  for  it  forms  the 


66 


JAPAN. 


chief  food  of  the  people.  The  majority  of  the  world's 
inhabitants  eat  rice,  and  for  at  least  one  third  of  them  it 
is  the  principal  food. 

There  are  almost  as  many  different  kinds  of  rice  as 
there  are  different  kinds  of  apples,  and  the  Japanese  rice 
is  among  the  best.  It  requires  great  care  in  its  cultiva- 
tion. The  grains  must  first  be  sowed  in  soil  which  is  well 
soaked  with  water.  They  sprout  ir  four  or  five  days,  and 
within  a  month  or  six  weeks  they  are  ready  to  be  trans- 
planted. The  rice  fields  have  in  the  mean  time  been 
flooded.     The   farmers  now  take  the  young  sprouts,  and 


and  set  them  out  in  the  mud." 


in  their  bare  feet  wade  through  the  water  and  set  them 
out  in  the  mud.  They  flood  the  fields  again  and  again 
during  the  summer.  They  keep  the  rice  free  from  weeds, 
and  by  the  latter  part  of  September  the  crop  is  ready  for 
harvest. 

The  rice  plants  grow  much  like  our  wheat  or  oats.  At 
first  they  are  a  beautiful  green,  but  as  they  ripen  they 
become  a  bright  yellow.     The  straw  is  cut  close  to  the 


FARMS   AND    FARMING. 


^7 


ground  with  a  sickle,  and  is  tied  up  in  little  sheaves  which 
are  hung  over  a  pole  resting  on  legs,  so  that  the  heads  of  rice 
are  off  the  ground.  The  grains  are  pulled  from  the  stem 
by  drawing  the  straw  through  a  rack  which  has  teeth  like  a 
saw.  The  grains  fall  off  and  are  laid  away  to  be  husked 
when  required.  We  find  rice  fields  in  all  the  lowlands  of 
the  island  of  Hondo,  and  in  many  other  parts  of  Japan. 


Cleaning  Rice. 

We  stop  now  and  then  at  the  tea  fields  or  tea  gardens, 
which  are  to  be  found  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the 
empire;  and,  as  we  get  nearer  Kioto,  in  central  Japan,  we 
spend  a  few  days  in  the  region  of  Uji  (oo'je),  whore  the 
tea  grown  is  especially  fine.  One  kind  is  known  by  a 
Japanese  word  meaning  "jeweled  dew,"  and  is  worth  from 
five  to  eight  dollars  a  pound.  It  is  in  Uji  that  the  tea  for 
the  emperor  and  empress  has  been  grown  for  years. 

The  tea  plant  of  Japan  is  a  kind  of  camellia.  It  grows 
much  like  the  American  box,  and  it  is  carefully  cultivated 


68 


JAPAN. 


" —  the  hedges  run  in  parallel  rows  — " 

in  hedges  which  rise  to  a  height  of  from  three  to  five  feet, 
and  which  are  usually  about  two  feet  in  width.  In  a  tea 
garden  the  hedges  run  in  parallel  rows  from  one  side  to 
the  other,  the  rows  being  about  as  far  apart  as  those  of  a 
potato  field.  The  leaves,  which  form  the  tea  of  com- 
merce, look  somewhat  like  those  of  a  rosebush,  their  color 
being  a  very  bright  green. 

The  plants  produce  their  best  tea  from  the  fifth  to  the 
tenth  year,  but  some  plants  are  said  to  live  longer  than 
the  life  of  a  man.  They  are  picked  several  times  during 
the  season,  the  first  tea  crop  of  each  year  being  the  best. 
The  work  is  done  almost  entirely  by  girls,  who  walk 
through  the  bushes  and  pick  out  the  bright,  new,  green 
leaves  from  the  old,  dark  ones.  They  put  the  leaves  in 
great  baskets  and  carry  them  off  on  their  backs. 


COMMERCE  AND   INDUSTRY.  69 

The  leaves  are  dried  in  the  sun,  then  steamed,  and  dried 
again.  That  part  of  the  crop  intended  for  export  is  then 
shipped  to  the  tea  factories  at  the  ports,  where  all  the 
moisture  is  taken  out  of  the  leaves  by  rubbing  them  about 
in  great  iron  bowls  set  in  ovens.  This  rubbing  is  done  by 
the  hands  of  women  and  men,  and  under  it  the  leaves 
change  their  shape  until  they  become  the  little,  hard, 
twisted  things  that  we  buy  as  tea  in  America.  After  they 
are  thoroughly  dried,  they  are  sorted  by  Japanese  girls, 
and  then  packed  in  boxes  for  shipment.  The  work  is  all 
done  by  hand,  and  every  cup  of  tea  that  we  drink  is  made 
from  leaves,  each  of  which  has  been  handled  again  and 
again  by  Japanese  (or  other  Asiatic)  men,  women,  and 
children. 

VIII.     COMMERCIAL   AND    INDUSTRIAL 
JAPAN. 

RIDING  through  tea  gardens,  passing  by  great  fields 
of  cotton,  and  finding  at  every  few  miles  villages 
busy  with  the  making  of  porcelain,  cotton,  and  silk  goods, 
we  at  last  come  to  Kioto.  The  region  about  the  cities  of 
Kioto  and  O'saka  is  one  of  the  busiest  parts  of  the  world. 
We  find  in  Kioto  men  and  women  weaving  beautiful  silks 
on  the  rudest  of  looms,  not  far  from  modern  silk  mills ; 
and  in  Osaka  we  may  see  large  cotton  mills,  in  which  the 
long-stapled  raw  cotton,  shipped  by  the  thousands  of  bales 
from  our  Southern  States,  is  mixed  with  the  shorter  Japa- 
nese cotton,  and,  with  modern  machinery,  is  woven  into  all 
sorts  of  cloths  for  the  people. 

We  find  many  factories  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of 
the  jute  rugs  which  are  shipped  to  America  from  Japan ; 

CARP.  ASIA  —  5 


70 


JAPAN. 


and  wc  arc  surprised  to  see  that  these  beautiful  rugs  arc 
woven  in  most  cases  by  children  of  ten  years  and  upwards, 
who  receive  for  a  day's  work  from  five  to  ten  cents.  The 
women  and  men  also  get  low  wages ;  and  when  we  enter 
the  workingmen's  homes,  and  note  how  cheap  everything 
is,  we  see  that  the  Japanese  could  easily  live  upon  what 
we  of  the  United  States  waste.     We  notice  the  introduc- 


Mil 

'  1 1 


1 


flllHIIiPillllllllPiniil'iilPilP  

''  Ijf'I    1 1  Be  KaHVy  i\ 


Cobbler,  using  Feet. 

tion  of  our  labor-saving  inventions,  and  wonder  if  the  time 
will  not  soon  come  when  these  people,  with  their  great 
skill  and  low  wages,  will  be  competing  with  our  workmen 
in  all  kinds  of  goods  and  in  all  the  world's  markets. 

At  present  the  greater  part  of  the  work  is  done  by 
hand.  Nearly  all  the  native  manufactures  are  produced 
in  this  way.  In  the  villages  given  up  to  the  making  of 
porcelain  we  see  numerous  small  factories  where  the  clay 
is  modeled  by  hand,  and  where  the  artists  squat  on  the 


COMMERCE  AND    INDUSTRY. 


71 


floor  and  paint  the  vases  and  dishes  with  the  beautiful  and 
curious  designs  found  on  Japanese  china. 

There  are  artists  who  carve  rats  and  monkeys  and  many 
other  figures  out  of  ivory  tusks,  to  be  shipped  as  curios 
all  over  the  world.  There  are  shops  in  which  Japanese 
lanterns  are  being  made,  where  dozens  of  boys  and  girls 
squat  together,   bending  bamboo   hoops  into  the    proper 


Japanese  Cooper. 


shapes  and  pa.sting  the  paper  upon  them.  There  are  um- 
brella makers  and  fan  makers  sitting  in  their  shops  by  the 
roadside  and  drying  their  goods  in  the  sun. 

As  we  look,  we  see  that  the  Japanese  artisan  has  what  is 
equal  to  four  hands  and  twelve  fingers.  He  is  usually  bare- 
footed, and  he  uses  his  feet  almost  as  much  as  his  hands. 
He  holds  all  sorts  of  articles  steady  by  pressing  them  be- 
tween the  soles  of  his  feet.  His  two  great  toes  are  equal 
to  two  extra  fingers,  and  he  can  pick  up  a  nail  with  his  toes. 


72 


JAPAN. 


As  we  go  on,  we  notice  that  some  Japanese  methods 
of  work  seem  to  be  the  direct  opposites  of  ours.  There 
is  a  carpenter  planing  a  board.  He  pulls  the  plane  toward 
him,  instead  of  pushing  it  from  him  as  our  carpenters  do; 
and  when  he  uses  the  drawing  knife  he  pushes  it  instead 
of  pulling  it,  as  would  seem  to  us  to  be  the  natural  way. 
The  American  builder  begins  his  house  with  the  founda- 
tion.   The  Japanese  builder  makes  the  roof  first.    He  puts 

it  together  in  pieces 
upon  a  scaffolding  of 
poles,  and  then  fills  in 
the  framework  beneath. 
The  logs  are  often 
brought  to  the  building, 
and  the  boards  sawed 
out  by  hand  as  they  are 
needed.  In  the  lumber 
yards  of  Japan  the  saw- 
mill is  an  almond-eyed, 
barelegged  man,  who 
stands  on  top  of  a  log, 
or  beneath  it,  and  pulls 
or  pushes  away  with 
the  saw  until  he  has  cut  the  log  into  boards. 

We  find  that  Osaka  has  a  vast  trade.  It  may  be  called 
the  New  York  of  Japan,  for  it  is  the  commercial  capital  of 
the  empire.  The  city  itself  has  a  population  of  about  five 
hundred  thousand,  and  with  the  manufacturing  villages 
which  make  up  its  suburbs,  it  contains  more  than  a  million 
people.  It  has  many  great  wholesale  establishments  and 
hundreds  of  large  retail  stores. 

In  its  stock  exchanges  we  learn  something  of  Japanese 
trade,  and  we  find  that  Japan  sells  to  other  nations  every 


Sawmill. 


COMMERCE   AND   INDUSTRY. 


year  one  hundred  million  dollars'  worth  of  goods.  We  of 
the  United  States  buy  of  Japan  several  times  as  much 
goods  as  she  buys  of  us,  and  her  trade  with  us  is  increas- 
ing. The  chief  things  that  we  export  to  Japan  arc  kero- 
sene oil,  different  kinds  of  machinery,  and  raw  cotton. 
More  than  half  the  homes  of  the  Japanese  people  are  now 


Making  Matting. 

lighted  by  American  oil ;  many  of  the  modern  mills  of  the 
empire  have  machinery  from  America;  and  millions  of 
the  Japanese  working  people  are  kept  warm  by  cotton 
from  our  Southern  States.  On  the  other  hand,  our  ladies 
use  Japanese  silks  by  the  millions  of  yards ;  many  of  our 
houses  are  furnished  with  Japanese  rugs  made  of  cotton 
and  jute ;  and  the  most  beautiful  matting  sold  in  our  stores 
now  comes  from  Japan. 


74  JAPAN, 

The  greater  part  of  the  tea  which  flows  down  American 
throats  is  made  from  leaves  raised  on  Japanese  soil,  and 
almost  all  the  camphor  used  by  the  world  comes  from 
Japan.  The  United  States  imports  tons  of  this  drug  every 
year,  and  in  our  tour  we  now  and  then  pass  great  camphor 
trees.  There  are  camphor  groves  scattered  throughout 
the  western  part  of  the  empire,  the  trees  of  which  are 
perhaps  the  most  valuable  known  to  the  world.  In  the 
village  of  Tosa,  in  western  Japan,  there  is  a  group  of  thir- 
teen trees  about  one  hundred  years  old,  which,  it  is  believed, 
will  produce  forty  thousand  pounds  of  crude  camphor, 
and  which  are  worth,  as  they  stand,  four  thousand  silver 
dollars. 

The  camphor  tree  is  an  evergreen  of  the  laurel  family. 
It  has  a  trunk  not  unlike  that  of  an  oak,  and  this,  in  full- 
grown  trees,  usually  runs  up  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet 
without  limbs.  Above  this  point  branches  extend  out  in 
every  direction,  covered  with  an  evergreen  foliage,  and 
forming  a  well-proportioned  and  beautiful  tree.  Some  of 
the  camphor  trees  of  Japan  are  fully  fifteen  feet  in  diame- 
ter, and  some  are  more  than  three  hundred  years  old. 
The  trees  are  destroyed  in  the  production  of  camphor. 
They  are  cut,  roots  and  all,  into  chips,  and  these  pieces 
are  boiled  so  that  the  camphor  sap  and  oil  are  cooked  out 
of  them.  The  sap  and  oil  go  up  with  the  steam,  which  is 
conducted  into  a  vessel  kept  cool  by  running  cold  water 
over  it.  This  condenses  the  vapor  into  a  deposit  of  oil  and 
camphor.  The  oil  is  pressed  out,  and  that  which  remains 
is  the  crude  camphor  of  commerce. 

From  Osaka,  a  half  hour  by  rail  takes  us  to  Ko'be,  the 
chief  seaport  of  central  Japan.  It  lies  at  the  entrance 
of  the  famed  Inland  Sea,  through  which  we  pass  on  our 
way  to  Ko-re'a.     We  travel  in  a  Japanese  steamer,  float- 


n 


COMMERCE   AND    INDUSTRY. 


75 


ing  in  and  out  among  mountainous  islands,  the  hills  of 
which  are  terraced,  and  which  have  many  black-roofed 
villages  dotting  their  shores.  We  pass  through  narrow 
channels,  moving  in  and  out  among  Japanese  craft.  We 
float  for  hours  through  the  most  beautiful  scenery,  and  at 
last  find  ourselves  at  anchor  in  the  mountain-locked  har- 
bor of  Nagasaki,  the  westernmost  port  of  Kiushu.  Here 
we  take  coal,  hundreds  of  half-naked  little  Japanese  women 
and  men  passing  it  in  small  baskets  from  one  to  another 
from  a  barge  on  one  side  of  the  steamer,  until  the  coal 
is  at  last  stored  in  the  hold. 

Our  ship  is  called  the  Tokyo  Maru  (ma-roo).  It  is 
lighted  by  electricity,  and  heated  by  steam.  We  travel 
almost  as  'comfortably  as  we  did  on  the  steamship  in 
which  we  crossed  the  Pacific.  The  sailors  and  officers 
are  all  Japanese,  and  the  Japanese  passengers  stand  with 
us  at  the  stern  of  the  boat,  and  with  us  look  longingly 
back  as  we  steam  out  into  the  ocean,  and  say  "  Sayoiiani' 
(sl-yon-a'ra),  or  "  Farewell,"  to  Japan. 


-ti- 


Coodby. 


^6  KOREA. 


IX.     THE    HERMIT    NATION. 

A  SHORT  sail  from  Japan  brings  us  to  the  land  of  big 
hats  and  long  gowns,  the  land  of  the  Koreans,  the 
curious  people  who  have  gained  the  title  of  "The  Hermit 
Nation."  We  knew  nothing  about  them  until  a  short 
time  ago,  yet  they  existed  as  a  nation  two  thousand  years 
before  America  was  discovered,  and  their  history  records 
their  doings  as  far  back  as  twelve  hundred  years  before 
Christ. 

The  Koreans  have  always  looked  upon  their  country  as 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  world,  and  have  tried  to  keep 
other  nations  from  learning  about  it,  for  fear  that  they 
might  come  and  seize  it.  For  this  reason  the  Koreans 
have  until  lately  driven  travelers  away  from  their  shores, 
and  when  sailors  were  shipwrecked  there,  they  were  not 
permitted  to  leave,  lest  they  might  carry  the  news  of 
Korea  to  their  homes. 

You  have  learned  how  the  United  States  introduced  our 
civilization  into  Japan.  It  also  opened  Korea  to  the  rest 
of  the  world.  In  1882  one  of  our  naval  officers,  Com- 
modore R.  W.  Shufeldt,  was  sent  to  this  country.  His 
vessel  entered  the  harbor  of  Chemul'pho,  and  he  there 
made  a  treaty  by  which  the  King  of  Korea  consented  to 
open  his  land  to  all  nations.  Since  then  travelers  have 
been  permitted  to  go  where  they  please.  The  Koreans 
are  now  exceedingly  hospitable.  We  shall  find  ourselves 
treated  as  guests,  and  we  can  learn  much  about  this 
curious  country. 

Korea  is  a  mountainous  peninsula  of  about  the  same 
shape  as  Florida,  and  not  much  greater  than  Kansas  in 
area.     It  is  bounded  on  the  northwest  and  northeast  by 


THI-:    HERMIT   NATION.  JJ 

Manchuria  and  southeastern  Siberia,  and  is  separated  on 
each  side  from  Japan  and  China  by  boisterous  seas.  Its 
shores  are  rocky  and  peppered  with  islands.  It  contains 
many  fertile  valleys  covered  with  rice,  and  streams  by  the 
hundred  flow  down  its  green  hills.  We  shall  find  its  soil 
rich,  but  nowhere  well  farmed.  The  climate  is  much  the 
same  as  that  of  our  North  Central  States,  and  we  shall 
notice  that  the  trees  are  not  very  different  from  those  we 
have  at  home.  In  the  mountains  there  are  rich  mines  of 
gold,  and  valuable  coal  fields  which  have  not  yet  been 
worked ;  and  in  a  recent  trip  across  the  country  the  author 
saw  many  signs  of  petroleum. 

Korea  has  numerous  birds  and  many  wild  animals.  We 
shall  not  dare  to  travel  at  night  for  fear  of  the  tigers,  and 
we  may  shoot  a  leopard  as  we  ride  through  the  mountains. 
The  country  contains  about  twelve  million  people,  who 
live  in  a  few  large  cities  and  numerous  villages.  Both  the 
towns  and  their  inhabitants  are  unlike  those  of  any  other 
part  of  the  world,  and  we  rub  our  eyes  again  and  again, 
wondering  whether  we  are  really  still  on  our  own  planet, 
or  whether  by  magic  during  the  night  we  have  not  sailed 
into  one  of  the  stars,  or  perhaps  to  the  lands  of  the  moon. 

We  sail  around  the  foot  of  the  peninsula  and  halfway  up 
the  west  coast  until  we  come  to  the  harbor  Cheniulpho. 
This  is  the  port  for  the  capital,  the  city  of  Seoul  (sa-ool'), 
which  is  situated  twenty-six  miles  back  from  the  seacoast, 
on  the  other  side  of  a  small  mountain  range.  We  see 
white-gowned  figures  walking  like  ghosts  over  the  hills  as 
we  enter  the  harbor,  and  a  crowd  of  Koreans  surrounds  us 
as  we  land  on  the  shore. 

What  curious  people  they  are !  Many  of  them  dress 
like  women,  but  their  faces  are  men's.  They  are  not 
Chinese,  and  still  they  are  yellow.     They  are  not  Japanese, 


78 


KOREA. 


though  their  eyes  are  like  almonds  in  shape.  They  are 
taller  than  the  Chinese  we  have  in  America,  and  their 
faces  are  kinder,  though  a  little  more  stolid.  They  have 
cheek  bones  as  high  as  those  of  an  Indian,  and  their 
noses  are  almost  as  flat  as  a  negro's.  They  are  stronger 
and  heavier  than  the  men  of  Japan,  and  some  carry  great 
burdens  of  all  kinds  of  wares. 

Here  comes  one  trotting  along  with  a  cartload  of  pot- 
tery tied  to  his  back.  During  our  journey  over  the  moun- 
tains to  the  city  of  Seoul,  men  of  that 
kind  will  carry  our  baggage,  weighing 
hundreds  of  pounds,  twenty-six  miles 
for  a  very  few  cents.  They  will  fasten 
our  trunks  to  an  easel-like  framework 
of  forked  sticks  which  hangs  from 
their  shoulders,  and  they  are  so  strong 
that  they  will  trot  over  the  hills  as 
though  they  were  loaded  with  feathers. 
Such  men  are  Korean  porters.  They 
carry  the  most  of  the  freight  of  the 
country,  and  they  form  but  one  class  of 
this  curious  people. 

At  the  top  there  is  the  king,  who 
governs  the  country,  and  who  has  vast 
estates  and  acres  of  palaces.  He  lives  in  great  state, 
and  his  officials  must  all  get  down  on  their  knees  when 
they  meet  him.  There  are  nobles  by  hundreds,  who  strut 
about  in  gorgeous  silk  dresses,  who  own  the  most  of 
the  land,  and  who  live  by  taxing  the  rest  of  the  people. 
They  are  the  drones  of  the  country.  They  spend  their 
days  in  smoking  and  chatting,  and  they  fan  themselves  as 
they  ride  through  the  streets  in  chairs  carried  by  their  big- 
hatted  servants. 


—  with  a  cartload  of  pot- 
tery tied  to  his  back." 


THE   HERMIT  NATION.  79 

There  are  government  clerks  by  the  thousand,  dressed 
in  white  gowns,  who  earn  their  living  as  scribes  for  the 
nobles.  They  act  as  policemen  and  taxgatherers,  and 
often  oppress  the  people  below  them.  There  are  farmers, 
merchants,  mechanics,  and  slaves ;  and  the  men  of  each 
class  have  their  own  costume,  by  which  we  may  know 
them.  The  gowns  of  the  clerks  have  tight  sleeves,  while 
those  of  the  nobles  are  so  big  that  they  hang  down  from 
their  wrists  like  bags.  No  one  can  do  hard  work  with  his 
arms  enveloped  in  bags,  and  the  sleeve  of  a  Korean  noble 
could  hold  a  baby. 

We  see  servants  and  slaves  dressed  in  jackets  and  full 
pantaloons  of  white  cotton.  They  have  stockings  so 
padded  that  their  feet  seem  to  be  swelled  out  or  gouty, 
and  almost  burst  the  low  shoes  which  they  wear.  The 
gowns  are  of  all  colors,  from  the  brightest  rose  pink  to 
the  most  delicate  sky  blue,  and  the  men  who  wear  them 
go  about  with  a  strut,  and  swing  their  arms  to  and  fro,  as 
they  walk  up  and  look  at  us,  the  strange  foreigners  who 
have  come  to  their  country. 

But  queerest  of  all,  to  our  eyes,  are  the  hats  and  head- 
dresses. Some  heads  show  out  under  great  bowls  of 
white  straw  as  big  as  an  umbrella,  and  others  are  deco- 
rated with  little  hats  of  black  horsehair,  which  cover  only 
the  crown  of  the  head,  and  which  are  tied  on  with  ribbons 
under  the  chin.  This  is  the  high  hat  of  Korea,  which, 
like  our  tall  silk  hat,  is  considered  the  mark  of  a  gentle- 
man ;  and  as  we  go  on  we  shall  find  that  each  hat  has 
its  meaning.  Here  comes  one  of  bright  straw,  as  large 
round  as  a  parasol,  which  seems  to  be  walking  off  with  the 
man  whose  shoulders  show  out  beneath  it.  That  man  is  a 
mourner,  for,  according  to  the  Korean  belief,  the  gods  are 
angry  with  him  and  have  caused  the  death  of  his  father. 


8o 


KOREA. 


For  three  years  after  the  death  of  a  parent  the  Korean 
wears  a  hat  of  that  kind.  He  dresses  in  a  long  gown  of 
light  gray,  and  holds  up  a  screen  in  front  of  his  face  to  show 
his  great  grief.  During  this  time  he  dare  not  go  to  parties, 
and  he  should  not  do  business,  or  marry. 
If,  at  the  end  of  his  mourning,  the  other 
parent  should  die,  he  must  mourn  three 
years  longer ;  and  when  the  king  or 
queen  passes  away,  all  the  people  put  on 
mourning  for  a  season. 

But  here  come  two  men  with  no  hats 
at  all.  They  look  very  humble,  and  they 
slink  along  through  the  crowd,  half 
ashamed.  They  part  their  hair  in  the 
middle,  and  wear  it  in  long  braids 
down  their  backs.  Those  are  Korean 
bachelors,  and  until  they  are  married 
they  will  have  no  rights  which  any 
one  is  bound  to  respect.  Only  mar- 
ried men  can  wear  hats  in  Korea,  and 
those  without  wives,  whether  they  be  fifteen  or  fifty,  are 
boys,  and  are  treated  as  such. 

Married  men  wear  their  hair  done  up  in  a  topknot  of 
about  the  size  of  a  baby's  fist.  This  is  tied  with  a  cord, 
and  it  stands  straight  up  on  the  crown  of  the  head  like  a 
handle.  Unmarried  men  and  boys  are  obliged  to  wear 
their  hair  down  their  backs.  They  tie  the  long  braids 
with  ribbons,  and  look  more  like  girls  than  boys.  The 
Korean  women,  as  we  shall  learn  farther  on,  are  seldom 
seen  on  the  streets,  and  we  meet  only  men  and  boys  at  the 
landing. 

But  let  us  travel  over  the  mountains,  and  visit  the  great 
city  of  Seoul.      It  is  the  largest  city  of  Korea,  and  it  is  the 


'That  man  is  a  mourner- 


THE   HERMIT  NATION.  8 1 

home  of  the  king  and  his  court.  It  is  only  twenty-six 
miles  from  Chemulpho,  the  chief  seaport ;  but  the  roads 
leading  to  it  are  rough,  and  there  is  little  trafific  upon 
them.  We  ride  in  Korean  chairs,  each  of  the  party  sit- 
ting crosslegged  in  a  cloth-lined  box  swung  between  poles 
and  carried  by  four  big-hatted  coolies.  As  we  go,  we 
tremble  at  the  prospect  of  not  reaching  Seoul  before  dark, 
for  we  know  that  we  shall  have  to  stay  outside  all  night  if 
we  get  there  after  sunset. 

The  Korean  capital  is  surrounded  by  a  massive  stone 
wall  as  tall  as  a  three-story  house,  and  so  broad  at  the  top 
that  two  carriages  abreast  could  easily  be  driven  upon  it. 
This  wall  was  built  by  an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand 
workmen  five  hundred  years  ago  for  the  defense  of  the 
city,  but  it  is  in  good  condition  to-day,  and  it  can  be  en- 
tered only  by  the  eight  great  gates  which  go  through  it. 
These  gates  are  closed  every  night  just  at  dusk  by  heavy 
doors  plated  with  iron,  which  are  not  opened  again  until 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  signal  for  their 
closing,  as  for  their  opening,  is  the  ringing  of  a  big  bell 
in  the  center  of  the  city,  after  which  those  who  are  out- 
side cannot  get  m,  and  those  who  are  inside  cannot  get 
out. 

We  know  but  one  word  of  Korean,  which  means  "  go 
on,"  or  "hurry."  We  cry  out  this  word  again  and  again, 
until  we  are  hoarse.  Our  coolies  go  on  the  trot,  and  we 
reach  Seoul  in  time  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  walls  and 
take  a  view  of  the  city  before  the  gates  close. 

Seoul  lies  in  a  basin  surrounded  by  mountains,  which 
in  some  places  are  as  rugged  and  ragged  as  the  wildest 
peaks  of  the  Rockies,  and  which  in  others  are  as  beauti- 
fully green  as  the  AUeghanies  or  the  Catskills.  The  tops 
of  these  mountains  rest  in  the  clouds,  and  as  we  look  we 


82 


KOREA. 


see  watch  fires  burning  upon  them,  and  learn  that  these 
form  the  telegraph  system  of  Korea.  They  are  the  last 
of  a  series  of  fires  which  flash  from  hill  to  hill  all  over 
the  country  and  by  their  number  and  size  tell  the  king 
whether  the  people  of  his  various  provinces  are  at  peace 
or  about  to  break  out  into  war.     The  wall  around  the  citv 


" —  a  view  of  the  city 


climbs  upon  these  mountains.  It  bridges  a  stream  at 
the  back.  It  runs  up  and  down  hill  and  valley,  inclos- 
ing a  plain  about  three  miles  square,  in  which  lies  the  city 
of  Seoul. 

What  a  curious  city  it  is !  Imagine  three  hundred 
thousand  people  living  in  one-story  houses.  Picture  sixty 
thousand  houses,  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  of  them 
built  of   mud  and  thatched  with  straw.     Think  of  a  city 


I 


THE    HERMIT   NATION.  83 

where  the  men  arc  dressed  in  long  gowns,  where  the  ladies 
are  not  seen  on  the  streets,  and  where  the  chief  business 
of  all  seems  to  be  to  smoke,  to  squat,  and  to  eat ;  and  you 
have  some  idea  of  Seoul. 

It  is  altogether  different  from  our  cities  of  the  same 
size.  Cut  the  houses  of  a  great  American  city  down  to 
the  height  of  ten  feet,  and  how  would  it  look  .''  Tear 
away  the  walls  of  brick,  stone,  and  wood,  and  in  their 
places  build  up  structures  of  cobblestones  put  together 
with  unburnt  mud.  Slice  the  big  buildings  into  little 
ones,  and  move  the  mud  walls  out  to  the  roadwav.  Next, 
run  dirty  ditches  along  the  edges  of  the  now  narrowed 
streets.  Cover  the  houses  with  straw  roofs,  and  over  the 
whole  tie  a  network  of  clotheslines ;  and  you  have  a 
general  idea  of  the  Korean  capital. 

As  you  look,  you  think  of  a  vast  harvest  field  filled  with 
big  haycocks,  interspersed  here  and  there  with  tiled  barns, 
and  with  a  great  inclosure  of  more  imposing  barns  under 
the  mountains  at  the  back.  The  haycocks  are  the  huts 
of  the  poor,  the  tiled  barns  are  the  homes  of  the  nobles, 
and  the  great  inclosure  contains  the  palaces  of  the  king. 
The  nobles  live  in  large  yards  back  from  the  street. 
Their  houses  look  much  like  those  of  Japan.  They  have 
walls  of  paper  between  the  rooms,  and  they  are  heated  by 
flues  which  run  under  the  floor.  The  huts  of  the  poor, 
which  make  up  the  greater  part  of  the  city,  are  built  each 
in  the  shape  of  a  horseshoe,  with  one  heel  of  the  shoe 
resting  on  the  street,  and  the  other  running  back  into 
the  yard. 

In  the  houses  of  both  the  rich  and  the  poor  the  men 
live  in  the  front,  and  the  women  are  shut  off  in  the  rear. 
They  have  no  views  of  the  street  except  through  little 
pieces  of  glass  about  as  big  as  a  nickel,  which  they  paste 


84 


KOREA. 


over  holes  in  the  paper  windows.  The  doors  which  lead 
into  these  houses  are  of  the  rudest  description.  They  are 
so  low  that  you  cannot  go  in  without  stooping.  At  the 
foot  of  each  door  a  hole  is  cut  for  the  dog,  and  every 
Korean  house  has  its  own  dog,  which  barks  and  snaps  at 
foreigners  as  they  go  through  the  streets. 

But,  as  we  are  looking  over  Seoul,  the  sun  drops  down 
back  of  the  mountains.  The  great  bell  in  the  center  of 
the  city  peals  out  its  knell,  and  the  keepers  close  the  gate 
doors  with  a  bang.  Similar  ceremonies  are  going  on  at 
the  other  gates  of  the  city,  and  that  bell,  like  the  curfew 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  sounds  the  close  of  the  day.  We 
climb  down  the  steps  on  the  inside  of  the  wall,  and  take 
our  seats  again  in  our  chairs.  We  do  not  go  to  a  hotel, 
but  our  coolies  take  us  to  the  home  of  the  American  minis- 
ter, who  is  a  friend  of  the  author,  and  who  entertains  us 
during  our  stay. 


a  hole  IS  cut  tor  tne  dog  —  '' 


TRAVELS  AMONG   THE   KOREANS.  85 


X.    TRAVELS   AMONG   THE   KOREANS. 

THIS  morning  we  are  to  explore  the  strange  city  of 
Seoul.  A  Korean  who  speaks  English  acts  as  our 
guide,  and  we  are  escorted  also  by  two  of  the  native  sol- 
diers who  are  furnished  to  our  legation  by  the  king. 
There  is  no  danger,  but  appearances  are  everything  in 
Korea,  and  great  people,  among  whom  we  are  now 
classed,  since  we  are  the  guests  of  the  minister  from  the 
United  States,  never  go  out  without  soldiers  and  servants 
about  them. 

We  have  to  watch  where  we  step.  The  streets  in  most 
parts  of  the  city  are  narrow  and  winding,  and  the  sewage 
flows  through  them  in  open  drains  which  take  up  much  of 
the  roadway.  There  are  no  waterworks  in  Seoul  except 
the  Korean  water  carrier,  who  almost  fills  the  street  as  he 
goes  from  one  part  of  the  town  to  the  other,  carrying 
his  two  buckets,  hung  one  from  each  end  of  a  pole  across 
his  back.  The  clouds  are  left  to  do  the  work  of  sprinkling 
the  streets,  except  here  and  there,  where  the  servants  take 
dippers  and  ladle  the  dirty  water  out  of  the  sewers  to  settle 
the  dust. 

The  smell  is  disgusting  at  times,  and  mixed  with  it  just 
now  is  smoke,  for  all  Seoul  is  cooking  its  breakfast. 
Each  of  the  huts  has  a  chimney  which  juts  out  into  the 
street  at  right  angles  with  the  v/all,  about  two  feet  from 
the  ground.  The  people  use  straw  for  fuel,  and  this 
produces  the  great  smoke  which  the  chimneys  are  pouring 
out  into  the  streets. 

Our  eyes  smart  as  we  walk  on  through  the  city.  W^e 
try  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  porters,  the  water 
carriers,  and   the    people  who  are  going  to  the  markets, 

CARP.  ASI.-V.  —  6 


86 


KOREA. 


which  arc  situated  at  the  foot  of  the  chief  business  street, 
and  about  the  gate  through  which  we  entered  the  city. 
We  follow  the  crowd,  and  soon  find  ourselves  in  the 
busiest  place  in  Korea. 

There  are  thousands  of  men  in  all  sorts  of  costumes, 
selling  and  buying.  There  are  porters  by  scores  who 
have  brought  loads  of  fresh  fish  from  the  seashore  on  their 


backs  over  the  mountains,  and 
by  dozens  who  are  selling  beef, 
kinds   of   game.      There   are 
the  selling  of  rice.     White- 
on  the  ground  with  bushels 
them.    There  are  boys  ped- 
which  are  shavings  with 
sulphur,  and  which  have 
burning  coal  before  they 
dreds  of    men  buying 
sorts  of  wholesale  and 
The  sales  are  not 
by  handfuls  rather 
seem  very  curious, 
ten  being  laid  end 
with    long    straw  -Eggsar 


there  are  butchers 

venison  and  other 

booths  devoted  to 

gowned  men   squat 

of  red  peppers  before 

dling  Korean  matches, 

their    ends    dipped    in 

to    be    touched    with    a 

will  light.   There  are  hun- 

grain,  and  carrying  on  all 

retail  business. 

large,  and  things  are  bought 

than  bushels.     Some  articles 

Eggs   are  sold  by  the    stick, 

to    end   and    wrapped    around 

so  tightly  that   they  stand  out 


straight  and  stiff,  sold  by  the  j^  stick  of  ten  eggs  brings  about 
three  cents.  Here  ^'  "  is  a  man  selling  pipe  stems. 
The  most  of  them  are  as  long  as  himself,  for  the  Korean 
gentleman's  pipe  is  so  long  that  he  has  to  have  a  servant 
to  light  it,  as  he  cannot  reach  out  to  its  bowl  when  the 
stem  is  in  his  mouth. 

See  that  man  in  a  black  hat  and  white  gown,  with  a 
pile  of  clubs  before  him  !  They  are  not  unlike  baseball 
bats,  and  we  wonder  if  our  American  game  has  not  been 
brought  out  to  Korea.     We  ask  our  guide,  and  he  tells  us 


TRAVELS   AMONG   THE   KOREAN'S. 


S7 


that  those  are  ironing  clubs,  and  shows  us  how  the  women 
use  them  for  ironing.  The  clothes  are  first  washed  in  cold 
water  and  dried  on  the  grass.  They  are  then  taken  into 
the  house  and  wrapped  around  a  stick,  which  is  laid  on 
the  floor.  Now  one  or  two  women  squat  down  before 
the  stick,  and  pound  upon  the  cloth  with  these  wooden 
clubs  until  it  becomes  as  smooth  and  as  glossy  as  the 
best  work  of  an  American  laundry. 


" —  and  pound  upon  the  ciotn    - 

Our  guide  points  to  his  own  gown  of  snow  white,  and 
tells  us  that  it  was  ironed  in  this  way,  and  as  we  go  on 
through  the  city  we  hear  the  musical  rat-tat-tat  which 
comes  from  the  ironing.  This  noise  is  to  be  heard  through- 
out Seoul  at  every  hour  of  the  day,  and  during  nearly 
every  hour  of  the  night.  The  garments  are  such  tliat 
they  must  be  ripped  apart  whenever  they  arc  washed.  It 
takes  a  long  time  to  iron  them,  and  when  thcv  arc  finished 


88 


KOREA. 


they  must  be  again  sewed  together,  so  that  you  see  Ko- 
rean girls  have  quite  as  much  to  do  as  our  girls  at  home. 

We  learn  that  only  the  higher-class  women  receive  any 
education,  and  that  very  few  know  how  to  read.  After 
girls  are  seven  years  old  they  must  stay  in  the  women's 
quarters  in  the  backs  of  the  houses,  and  must  no  longer 
play  with  the  boys.  The  noble  women  will  not  go  out 
on  the   street   except    in    closed    chairs,   and   the    poorer 

women  whom  we  meet  dur- 
ing our  tour  have  green 
cloaks  thrown  over  their 
heads,  which  they  hold  tight 
in  front  of  their  faces,  with 
just  a  crack  for  the  eyes. 
This  is  so  that  the  men  may 
not  see  their  beauty  as  they 
go  through  the  city. 

Leaving  the  markets,  we 
walk  through  the  crowd  up 
the  street  till  we  come  to  the 
little  temple  containing  the 
bell  which  sounds  the  open- 
ing and  closing  of  the  gates. 
This  is  in  the  business  center 
of  the  city,  and  the  streets  surrounding  it  are  thronged  with 
merchants  and  peddlers,  with  dandies  and  loafers,  from 
sunrise  to  sunset.  The  ordinary  Korean  store  is  a  little 
booth  or  straw  shed  which  juts  out  into  the  street,  and 
which  contains,  perhaps,  a  bushel-basketful  of  goods.  The 
merchants  wear  white  gowns  and  black  hats,  and  we  see 
them  squatting  outside  their  stores  with  their  hats  on, 
smoking  as  they  wait  for  their  customers. 

About   the    little  temple  there   are  large  buildings    or 


A  Korean  Lady. 


TRAVELS   AMONG   THE   KOREANS. 


89 


Korean  Shoes. 


bazaans,  each  of  which  is  devoted  to  the  selling  of  one  kind 
of  goods.  These  buildings  have  many  little  rooms,  each 
the  size  of  a  very  small  closet,  and  every  little  room  is  a 
store.  The  merchants 
sit  in  the  halls  outside 
the  closets,  with  their 
hats  on,  and  bring  out 
piece  by  piece  as  you 
order.  They  are  by 
no  means  anxious  to 
sell,  and  the  more 
goods  you  want,  the 
higher  the  price  they 
will  ask.  You  may  get  one  pair  of  shoes,  for  instance,  for 
fifty  cents,  but  if  you  want  a  hundred,  the  merchant  will 
be  very  sure  to  charge  you  at  least  a  dollar  a  pair,  on 
the  plea  that  if  he  sold  all  his  goods  he  could  not  keep 
his  store  open. 

A  great  deal  of  peddling  is  done 
by  boys,  some  of  whom  have  fires  on 
the  streets,  on  which  they  roast  chest- 
nuts to  sell  hot  from  the  coals.  We 
meet  little  fellows  everywhere  ped- 
dling candy.  They  have  trays  which 
hang  from  their  shoulders  at  right 
angles  with  their  waists,  and  their 
money  boxes  consist  of  pieces  of 
twine,  upon  which  they  string  the 
■•- peddling  candy."  Korean  "  casli  "  which  serve  as  the 

money  of  the  countrv.  These  cash  are  about  the  size  of 
an  old-fashioned  red  cent,  with  a  square  hole  cut  out  of 
the  center.  It  takes  more  than  two  thousand  cash  to 
equal  the  value  of  one  of  our  dollars,  and  we  find  that  in 


90 


KOREA. 


taking  a  long  journey  we  must  have  an  extra  bullock, 
or  a  couple  of  porters,  to  carry  the  money  we  need  to  use 
on  the  way. 

What  is  the  noise  we  hear  coming  from  that  little  hut 
just  off  the  main  street  ? 

That  is  a  Korean  school.  The  teacher  squats  on  the 
floor  in  a  gown  of  white  or  of  some  bright  color.  To-day 
he  wears  rose  pink,  and  he  has  a  cap  of  black  horsehair. 
The  glasses  of  his  spectacles  are  as  big  as  trade  dollars, 


•■  —  studying  their  lessons  out  loud.  " 

and  his  appearance  is  very  imposing.  His  scholars  squat 
about  on  straw  mats  studying  their  lessons  out  loud.  They 
sway  themselves  back  and  forth  as  they  sing  out  again 
and  again  the  words  they  are  trying  to  learn,  all  shouting 
at  once.  If  one  stops,  the  teacher  thinks  he  is  not  study- 
ing, and  calls  him  up  for  a  whipping. 

At  our  request,  the  teacher  shows  us  how  scholars  are 
punished.  A  little  fellow,  well  knowing  that  he  has  done 
nothing  wrong  and  will  not  be  hurt,  stretches  himself  on 


TRAVELS   AMONG   THE   KOREANS.  91 

his  Stomach  flat  on  the  floor,  while  the  teacher  takes  a  rod 
and  taps  him  a  few  blows  on  the  thighs.  We  laugh.  The 
little  Korean  laughs,  too,  and  when  we  have  given  him  a 
handful  of  coins  worth  about  a  cent  of  our  money,  he  runs 
back  to  his  seat,  the  happiest,  as  well  as  the  richest,  boy  in 
school. 

The  studies  of  Korean  boys  are  made  up  chiefly  of 
learning  by  heart  the  sayings  of  great  Chinese  scholars. 
They  do  not  now  have  the  advantages  of  our  American 
children,  but  important  changes  are  going  on  in  the  coun- 
try, and  the  little  Koreans  will  probably  soon  have  schools 
like  our  own. 

It  is  through  public  examinations  in  the  grounds  of  the 
palace,  that  the  officials  of  the  country  are  chosen.  The 
Koreans  have  great  respect  for  good  scholars.  They  are 
lovers  of  poetry.  Young  men  often  have  poetry  parties, 
where  each  guest  shows  his  skill  in  writing  verses  upon  a 
subject  given  out  at  the  time. 

We  find  other  curious  customs,  some  good  and  some 
bad,  which  have  grown  up  during  the  ages  the  Koreans 
have  lived  by  themselves.  The  people  have  much  natural 
refinement.  They  are  intelligent  and  kind,  and,  as  we 
travel  among  them,  we  feel  that  with  a  good  government, 
new  laws,  and  equal  rights  for  all  men,  such  as  they  may 
have  in  the  future,  they  will  make  as  respectable  a  little 
nation  as  can  be  found  anywhere. 

We  feel  sorry  to  leave  them,  but  we  must  go  across  the 
peninsula  to  the  east  coast,  in  order  to  get  a  ship  for 
Siberia.  We  travel  on  ponies,  riding  for  seven  da\s  up  and 
down  the  mountains,  j^assing  through  thousands  of  rice 
fields,  and  now  and  then  skirting  the  wilds  whore  we  dare 
not  go  after  dark  for  fear  of  the  tigers.  We  find  numer- 
ous villages  of  thatched  huts,  and  notice  that  the  farmers 


92 


KOREA. 


live  in  villages  and  not  on  their  farms.  We  stop  some- 
times at  Korean  inns,  where  we  sleep  on  the  brick  floors, 
half  baked  by  the  straw  fires  beneath  us.  Sometimes  we 
stay  with  the  magistrates,  who,  on  our  departure,  as  a 
mark  of  honor  furnish  us  with  trumpeters  to  toot  us  out 
of  the  town. 

At  last  we  reach  the  fine  harbor  known  as  Gensan. 
Here  we  board  a  Japanese  steamer  on  its  way  from  Na- 
gasaki to  Vladivostok  (vla-de-vos-tok'),  and  after  a  few 
days'  sail  northward  we  find  ourselves  at  anchor  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Peter  the  Great,  with  the  largest  seaport  of 
Siberia  lying  before  us. 


Plowing  in  Korea. 


THE  TRANS-SIBERIAN    RAILROAD. 


93 


'There  is  a  Russian  church- 


XI.    SIBERIA   AND    THE   TRANS-SIBERIAN 
RAILROAD. 

VLADIVOSTOK  is  the  key  to  eastern  Siberia  (see  map 
on  p.  301).  It  is  the  great  seaport  of  Russian  Asia, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  strongly  fortified  towns  on  the 
globe.  The  Gulf  of  St.  Peter  the  Great,  in  which  we 
come  to  anchor,  is  surrounded  by  mountains.  At  the 
foot  of  these,  running  up  the  sides  of  the  hills,  stand  hun- 
dreds of  wooden  and  brick  houses.  They  look  more  like 
those  of  an  American  town  than  the  structures  of  j^ajier 
and  frame  in  Jai')an,  or  the  mud  huts  of  Korea  which  we 
have  just  left.  There  is  a  Russian  church,  and  we  see 
many  business  places  not  unlike  our  stores  at  home. 


94 


EASTERN   SIBERIA. 


The  harbor  is  filled  with  steamers.  Russian  men-of-war 
lie  beside  us,  and  the  hills  are  covered  with  barracks,  in 
front  of  which  Russian  soldiers  march  up  and  down.  Si- 
beria is  governed  by  Russia,  and  about  three  fourths  of  its 
five  million  inhabitants  are  of  Russian  birth. 

The  czar  is  trying  to  people  the  country  with  Russians, 
and  among  the  ships  which  lie  between  us  and  the  city  we 
see  large  emigrant  steamers  which  have  come  from  the 
Black  Sea,  through  the  Straits  of  Bosporus,  over  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  through  the  Suez  Canal,  and  around 
southern  Asia,  bringing  Russian  farmers  to  Siberia.  The 
steamers  will  carry  them  from  Vladivostok  one  thousand 
miles  further  north,  and  land  them  at  stations  along  the 
great  Amur  (a-moor')  River. 

Siberia  is  a  very  rich  country.  It  is  of  vast  extent,  and 
it  is  said  to  have  enough  good  soil  to  support  a  great 
people.  It  is  not  all  a  snow-clad  desert,  as  many  suppose, 
but  it  has  plains  and  plateaus  covered  with  grass,  upon 
which  hundreds  of  thousands  of  horses  and  cattle  feed 
during  the  summer.  It  contains  many  coal  mines,  and  the 
iron  of  the  Ural  Mountains  is  of  very  fine  quality.  Large 
deposits  of  gold  are  found  in  many  parts  of  Siberia. 
There  are  valuable  gold  fields  in  the  Altai  (al-tl')  Moun- 
tains, in  the  Urals,  and  in  the  mountain  chains  of  eastern 
and  southern  Siberia.  There  are  now  about  forty  thousand 
miners  at  work,  although  in  some  places  the  gold-bearing 
soil  is  so  frozen  that  fires  must  be  built  upon  it  before  it 
can  be  dug  up  for  washing.  Nuggets  of  gold  weighing  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  have  been  found,  and  the  grains  of 
Siberian  gold  are  said  to  be  on  the  average  larger  than 
those  of  any  other  part  of  the  world. 

The  country  of  Siberia  is  so  large,  and  it  has  so  few 
people,  that  we  do  not  know  just  what  it  contains.     The 


THE  TRANS-SIBERIAN    RAILROAD.  95 

land  is  in  the  form  of  an  irregular  plain,  sloping  northward 
to  the  sea,  and  is  made  up  of  three  long  belts. 

The  first  belt,  lying  along  the  edge  of  the  Arctic  Ocean, 
is  frozen  and  bleak  during  most  of  the  year.  Upon  this 
no  trees  grow.  The  land  is  swampy  in  the  summer,  and 
in  the  winter  the  Arctic  Ocean  freezes  for  a  distance  of 
hundreds  of  miles  from  the  shore,  and  both  land  and  sea 
are  so  coated  with  snow  that  you  might  ride  for  days  with- 
out knowing  where  the  land  ended  and  the  ice  began. 
This  is  the  land  of  the  reindeer,  the  polar  bear,  and  the 
black  fox.  It  is  the  land  of  long  days  and  long  nights, 
the  land  where  there  is  nothing  but  darkness  for  several 
weeks  during  midwinter,  and  where  midsummer  is  one 
long  day,  in  which  the  sun  never  sets. 

South  of  this  region,  there  is  a  great  belt  made  up  of 
almost  impenetrable  forests,  filled  with  wild  boars,  wolves, 
and  all  kinds  of  fur-bearing  animals.  Siberia  has  sables 
whose  furs  are  worth  almost  their  weight  in  silver.  It 
has  numerous  otters  and  squirrels,  and  the  beautiful  white 
ermines  whose  skins  are  used  to  line  the  cloaks  of  kings. 

The  third  belt  is  that  nearest  China.  This  contains 
the  farming  lands  of  Siberia,  and  upon  it  will  be  located 
the  vast  population  which  the  country  wdll  support  in  the 
future.  This  region  has  many  post  stations.  The  Rus- 
sians travel  through  it  in  winter  on  sledges  drawn  by 
relays  of  horses,  which  gallop  swiftly  over  the  dazzling 
white  snow.  Clad  in  two  coats  of  fur,  the  traveler  is  able 
to  withstand  the  cold,  and  by  rubbing  his  nose  and  ears 
now  and  then,  he  keeps  them  from  freezing. 

At  this  time  the  rivers  are  covered  with  ice  many  feet 
thick.  Men  can  ride  in  sleighs  for  miles  on  the  Amur, 
which  is  one  of  the  great  streams  of  Asia,  and  on  the  ice 
they  can  cross  Lake   Baikal,  one  of  the  largest  lakes  of 


96 


EASTERN   SIBERIA. 


the  world.  They  go  through  mountains  as  picturesque  as 
the  Alps,  and  pass  rapidly  over  the  vast  plateaus  which 
will  sometime  be  covered  with  farms. 

It  is  through  southern  Siberia  that  the  Trans-Siberian 
railroad  is  now  being  built.  This  road  will  be  4696 
miles  long  in  Asia  alone,  and  when  connected  with  the 
European  lines  it  will  form  the  longest  continuous  stretch 
of  railroad   in   the  world.      It  will  be  one   of  the   g-reat 


'The  trains  are  already  running  — 


trade  routes  of  Asia,  and  vast  quantities  of  the  silk  and 
tea  which  are  now  carried  by  ships  around  that  continent, 
through  the  Suez  Canal  to  Europe,  will  pass  over  it  in 
the  near  future. 

The  work  of  building  is  now  going  on  along  different 
parts  of  the  route,  and  we  may  find  hundreds  of  Russians 
at  work  grading  the  road  and  laying  the  rails.  The 
eastern  end  of  the  railroad  is  at  Vladivostok,  and  the 
western  end  is  at  Cheliabinsk',  in  the  Ural  Mountains. 
The  trains  are  already  running  over  the  first  eastern  sec- 


THE  TRANS-SIBERIAN    RAILROAD. 


97 


tion,  and  we  can  take  a  ride  upon  this,  one  of  the  greatest 
trunk  lines  of  the  world. 

We  first  explore  the  city  of  Vladivostok.  It  is  a  slice 
of  Russia  in  Asia.  It  contains  a  mixed  population  of 
about  twenty  thousand  Russians,  three  thousand  Koreans, 
an  equal  number  of  Chinese,  and  thousands  of  Russian 
soldiers.  Its  streets  are  filled  with  long-bearded  men 
wearing  black  caps  and  thick  coats  which  reach  to  the 
tops  of  their  high  leather  boots,  in  which  arc  stuck  their 
full  pantaloons.  We 
ride  up  the  hills  in  dros- 
kies,  or  Russian  car- 
riages, drawn  by  black 
horses  which  gallop 
like  mad.  Our  drivers 
speak  only  Russian ; 
and,  as  they  do  not  un- 
derstand English,  we 
direct  them  which  way 
to  go  by  motioning  to 
the  right  or  to  the  left. 

Our  first  call  is  upon 
the  police.     The  government  is  exceedingly  strict. 


A  Drosky. 


You 


can  do  nothing  in  Siberia  without  applying  to  the  officers, 
and  if  we  would  take  a  ride  on  the  Trans-Siberian  rail- 
road, we  must  first  get  a  permit  from  the  chief  of  police. 
Armed  with  this,  we  go  to  the  station,  which  is  much 
like  an  American  railroad  depot,  except  that  it  is  filled  with 
soldiers,  who  tramp  up  and  down,  and  who  look  fiercely 
at  us  as  we  purchase  our  tickets.  We  find  a  soldier  who 
speaks  English,  and  he  shows  us  the  way  to  our  train. 
We  ask  for  the  sleeping  cars,  but  are  told  there  are  none 
as  yet,  and  that  the  only  cars  used  are  third  class. 


98 


EASTERN    SIBERIA. 


" — we  go  to  the  station  —  " 

If  you  could  take  an  American  freight  car,  seat  it  with 
wooden  benches,  and  above  them  put  wide  shelves  run- 
ning across  it  from  one  side  to  the  other,  you  would  have 
a  car  much  like  the  one  that  we  take  for  our  journey. 
We  find  the  lower  seats  filled,  and  are  told  by  our  friend 
that  the  shelves  are  the  upper  berths,  and  that  we  must 
sleep  upon  them. 

The  train  leaves  at  midnight.  It  is  lighted  by  candles 
and  heated  by  a  wood  stove  which  stands  at  the  end  of 
the  car  nearest  the  engine.  The  Chinese,  Tartars,  and 
Russians,  who  occupy  the  lower  benches,  are  snoring,  and 
we  climb  upon  the  shelves  and  lie  down.  We  bundle  up 
our  coats  to  use  them  as  pillows,  and  try  in  vain  to  make 
ourselves  comfortable.  We  turn  over  and  over  again, 
seeking  the  soft  side  of  the  boards,  and  every  moment  we 
find  bones  aching  which  we  never  imagined  existed.     The 


THE  TRANS-SIBliRIAX    RAILROAD. 


99 


road  is  new,  and  the  cars  jolt  up  and  down  as  they  bump 
over  the  rails. 

We  ride  in  this  way  all  night,  and  wake  up  in  the  morn- 
ing in  the  midst  of  great  plains,  the  soil  of  which  is 
as  black  as  your  boots.  We  travel  for  miles  over  mead- 
ows and  great  fields  of  wheat.  We  find  that  the  Siberian 
Russians  live  in  villages  made  up  of  log  cabins,  and 
we  are  told  that  the  lands  are    held    in  common.     The 


Siberian  Elders. 


elders  or  chief  men  of  the  towns  divide  the  farms  among 
the  people  year  after  year,  and  the  men  of  each  village  all 
work  together. 

We  stop  for  a  time  at  Nikolsk,  a  town  of  perhaps  ten 
thousand  people,  which  looks  very  much  like  one  of  our 
new  towns  of  the  West.  Here  are  more  barracks  of 
soldiers,  and  all  along  the  line  of  our  journey  we  find 
soldiers  who  evidentlv  wonder  what  we  Americans  are 
doing    in    Asia,  and  who    seem    to    suspect    us   as    spies. 


lOO  EASTERN    SIBERIA. 

They  want  to  know  all  about  us,  but  they  speak  nothing 
but  Russian,  and  our  conversation  is  carried  on  by  signs. 

We  look  in  vain  for  the  convicts  who  we  have  sup- 
posed were  to  be  seen  in  all  parts  of  Siberia.  The 
worst  convicts  are  now  taken  to  the  island  of  Sakhalin  (sa- 
kil-len'),  northeast  of  Vladivostok,  and  they  are  not  forced 
to  work  on  the  railroad,  as  they  were  in  the  past.  But  we 
see  many  Chinese,  and  at  some  of  the  stations  find  a  few 
of  the  queer  Siberian  natives  who  make  up  a  part  of  the 
population  of  this  far-away  land. 

We  learn  that  many  of  the  native  tribes  have  curious 
customs.  For  instance,  the  Buriats  (boo'ri-ats),  who  live 
near  Lake  Baikal,  are  fond  of  horses,  and  when  a  man 
dies  they  kill  a  horse  in  order  that  its  spirit  may  carry  him 
on  his  long  journey  through  the  land  of  the  hereafter. 
These  people  have  slant  eyes,  thick  lips,  and  snub  noses. 
They  shave  most  of  their  heads,  and  wear  the  remain- 
ing hair  in  queues,  like  the  Chinese.  They  are  fond  of 
tobacco,  and  Buriat  children  of  eight  or  nine  years  go 
about  with  pipes  in  their  mouths. 

Another  tribe  is  that  of  the  Tunguses  (toon-goos'ez), 
who  live  in  the  Amur  valley  and  in  other  parts  further 
north.  Some  of  these  people  are  breeders  of  stock,  but 
the  greater  part  are  nomadic  hunters.  They  roam  through 
the  woods  without  tents,  living  for  the  time  in  caves  or 
hollow  trees.  They  travel  from  one  part  of  the  country 
to  another  on  sledges  pulled  by  reindeer,  and  they  raise 
and  breed  reindeer  for  sale.  They  are  very  fond  of 
animals,  and  those  branches  of  the  Tunguses  which  have 
fixed  settlements  often  have  menageries  of  bears,  foxes, 
and  wolves. 

In  northern  Siberia  there  are  people  who  are  much  like 
those  we  have  in  Alaska,  and  who  live  in  tents  made  of 


THE  TRANS-SIBERIAN    RAILROAD. 


lOI 


skins ;  and  the  island  of  Sakhalin  has  natives  similar  to 
the  hairy  Ainos  of  Yesso  in  northern  Japan.  There  are 
curious  tribes  in  western  Siberia,  which  we  may  visit  by 
going  northward  from  the  Caspian  Sea,  after  we  have 
traveled  around  Asia  by  way  of  China,  Siam,  and  India. 
Just  now  the  great  Empire  of  China  lies  almost  south 
of  us.  Were  the  Trans-Siberian  railroad  completed,  a 
branch  line  would  probably  be  built  through  the  Great 
Chinese  Wall,  and  in  less  than  a  day  we  could  go  by  rail 
to  Peking.  At  present  the  sea  is  the  only  safe  route,  and 
we  take  the  railroad  back  to  Vladivostok,  where  we  catch 
the  Russian  steamer,  w^hich,  sailing  southward  around  the 
Korean  peninsula,  will  land  us  in  China. 


J.<fi.-K.,A  .,   ,.. 


-live  in  tents  made  of  skins  — ' 


CAKl'.  ASIA — 7 


102 


CHINA. 


A  Chinese  Family. 


XII.    CHINA  — A    TRIP   TO    PEKING. 


TO-DAY  we  begin  our  travels  among  the  Chinese. 
They  are  more  than  one  fourth  of  all  the  world's 
people.  They  have  yellow  skins,  black  hair,  slant  eyes, 
and  little  fat  noses  with  very  broad  nostrils.  The  men 
and  boys  shave  their  heads,  with  the  exception  of  a  spot 
on  the  crown,  as  big  as  the  palm  of  your  hand,  from 
which  a  long  braid  of  hair,  called  a  queue,  hangs  down 
the  back.  The  women  have  very  small  feet,  made  so  by 
having  been  bound  so  tightly  from  childhood  that  they 
have  been  unable  to  grow ;  and  the  hands  of  both  women 
and  men  have  long,  slender,  tapering  fingers.  The  men 
often  dress  in  long  gowns,  and  the  women,  in  some  parts 
of  the  country,  wear  pantaloons. 


A  TRIP   TO    PKKIXG. 


103 


These  people  have  many  curious  customs,  and  we  shall 
find  ourselves  traveling  through  a  new  w-orld.  It  is  a 
great  world,  too.  The  Chinese  have  vast  cities,  in  which 
there  are  hundreds  of  workshops,  banks,  schools,  and  all 
sorts  of  stores ;  and  we  shall  find  the  people  everywhere 


The  Chinese  Empire. 

working.  Their  minds  are  as  bright  as  our  own,  and  when 
we  trade  with  them  we  shall  have  to  look  out  or  they  will 
get  the  best  of  the  bargain.  They  are  an  old  people. 
They  had  a  civilization  long  before  Rome  was  founded, 
and  they  have  numbers  of  villages  which  were  in  existence 
hundreds  of  years  before  Columbus  discovered  America. 


I04 


CHINA. 


The  Chinese  have  one  of  the  greatest  and  richest  of  all 
the  countries  in  the  world.  Their  empire  —  which  consists 
of  China  proper  and  the  vast  tributary  provinces  of 
Manchuria,  Chinese  or  Eastern  Turkestan,  Mongolia,  and 
Tibet  —  is  one  third  larger  than  the  United  States.  It  has 
millions  of  acres  which  have  for  centuries  produced  two 
crops  a  year.     Its  mountains  contain  all  kinds  of  minerals, 

and  there  are  said  to  be  coal 
and  iron  lying  near  to  each 
other  in  every  one  of  the 
eighteen  provinces  which 
form  China  proper. 

China  proper  is  where  the 
most  of  the  Chinese  live. 
It  is  not  quite  one  half  the 
size  of  our  country,  but  it 
has  at  least  five  times  as 
many  inhabitants.  Fully 
one  half  of  it  is  mountain- 
ous, and  the  southern  part 
is  largely  made  up  of  hills. 
The  remainder  consists  of 
plains  which  extend  back 
from  the  edge  of  the  sea, 
and  which  are  cut  up  into 
small  farms,  supporting  millions  of  people.  It  is  a  land 
of  many  climates.  At  the  north  the  people  dress  in  sheep- 
skins during  the  winter,  and  in  the  southernmost  parts  the 
children  often  go  barefooted  at  New  Year's. 

We  begin  our  travels  with  a  visit  to  the  city  of  Peking. 
It  is  the  capital  of  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  there  is  no 
capital  in  the  world  so  hard  to  get  at.  It  lies  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  country.     The  nearest  port  is  Tientsin 


Winter  Costume. 


A  TRIP  TO   PEKING.  IO5 

(te-en'tsen),  which  is  situated  on  the  little  Pei  (pa)  River, 
about  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth.  This  stream,  the  Pei  Ho 
(the  word  ho  means  "river"),  forms  the  only  entrance  to 
the  vast  country  of  north  China.  The  river  is  narrow  and 
winding.  It  curves  in  and  out  like  a  snake,  and  as  we 
move  up  it  we  see,  both  in  front  and  behind  us,  the  white 
sails  of  queer  Chinese  boats  apparently  floating  through 
the  green  fields  as  they  pass  along  the  course  of  the  river. 

We  are  entering  the  Great  Plain  of  north  China,  which 
extends  for  seven  hundred  miles  along  the  coast,  and 
which  runs  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  four  hundred 
miles  back  into  the  interior,  supporting,  it  is  .said,  more 
people  than  any  equal  area  on  the  globe.  The  land  is  as 
flat  as  a  floor,  and  we  can  see  for  miles  on  all  sides.  The 
plain  is  cut  up  into  farms  without  fences,  and  spotted  here 
and  there  with  small  clumps  of  trees  surrounding  the  col- 
lections of  mud  huts  which  are  the  homes  of  the  farmers. 

The  banks  of  the  Pei  Ho  are  dotted  with  little  cities  and 
villages.  The  stream  is  so  narrow  that  we  often  float 
close  to  the  houses.  We  observe  that  the  walls  are  made, 
in  most  cases,  of  sun-dried  bricks,  and  that  their  low,  slant- 
ing roofs  are  composed  of  bundles  of  reeds  plastered  with 
mud.  The  houses  are  all  of  one  story.  They  look  more 
like  boxes  than  houses,  for  some  of  them  are  not  more  than 
fifteen  feet  square.  They  arc  built  close  uji  to  the  streets, 
which  are  narrow  dirt  roads  without  sidewalks.  In  some 
places,  parts  of  the  buildings  extend  out  over  the  banks 
of  the  river,  and  we  are  told  that  the  freshets  often  wash 
the  foundations  away  and  drop  such  houses,  families  and 
all,  down  into  the  water. 

We  see  the  streets  swarming  with  curious  people. 
There  are  yellow-skinned  merchants  in  black  satin  caps 
and  gay-colored  silk   gowns.     There    are    shaven-headed 


I06  CHINA. 

workmen  whose  queues  are  tied  up  in  order  that  they  may 
be  out  of  the  way,  and  who  are  dressed  in  bkie  shirts  and 
wide,  flapping  pantaloons  of  blue  cotton.  There  are  bare- 
headed women  in  coats  of  green,  purple,  and  crimson, 
below  which  show  out  their  bright-colored  trousers  and 
little  silk  shoes.  There  are  yellow-skinned  boys  and  girls 
dressed  like  their  parents,  some  playing  about,  and  others 
watching  the  steamer  go  by.  The  poorer  boys  are  more 
than  half  naked,  and  we  tremble  at  their  danger  as  we 
watch  them  wrestling  together,  rolling  each  other  over  and 
over  on  the  banks  at  the  very  edge  of  the  water. 

The  roads  along  the  river  between  the  towns  are  filled 
with  a  stream  of  yellow-skinned  people  of  all  classes,  con- 
ditions, and  ages.  There  are  half-naked  porters,  who  go 
on  the  trot  as  they  carry  great  loads  balanced  on  the  ends 
of  the  poles  which  rest  on  their  shoulders.  Now  and  then 
we  pass  ladies  on  their  way  to  a  call  on  their  neighbors. 
Their  feet  are  too  small  for  them  to  walk  comfortably,  and 
they  ride  on  the  backs  of  their  men-servants,  their  ban- 
daged feet  in  gay  slippers  bobbing  up  and  down  out  of 
their  silk  pantaloons  as  they  hold  on  by  clasping  their 
arms  around  the  necks  of  the  servants.  There  are  Chi- 
nese gentlemen  who  are  being  carried  along  in  sedan 
chairs  swung  between  poles,  and  there  are  small-footed 
old  women  who  walk  on  with  canes.  There  are  laborers 
and  peddlers  of  every  description,  and  hucksters  with  bas- 
kets on  their  way  to  the  markets.  We  see  hundreds  of 
people  at  work  in  the  fields,  and  we  get  our  first  glimpse 
of  the  industry  of  the  Chinese,  which  is  unsurpassed  in 
the  work  of  the  world. 

The  numbers  increase  as  we  go  up  the  river,  and  at 
Tientsin  we  find  scores  of  brawny  laborers  ready  to  handle 
the  freight  at  the  wharves.     They  carry  the  great  boxes 


A  TRIP  TO   PEKING.  10/ 

and  bales  out  of  our  ship  upon  poles  which  they  rest  on 
their  shoulders,  all  grunting  and  yelling  together  as  they 
raise  and  lower  their  burdens.  As  we  look  closely  at 
them  we  are  surprised  at  the  size  of  these  men  of  north 
China.  They  are  taller  than  those  of  the  southern  part 
of  the  empire,  from  which  the  Chinese  of  America  come. 
Some  are  fully  six  feet  in  height,  and  not  a  few  can  lift 
five  hundred  pounds  each  at  a  load. 

Tientsin  is  the  chief  business  city  of  north  China.  It 
contains  more  than  a  million  people,  and  Peking,  the 
great  Chinese  capital,  is  only  eighty  miles  away.  The 
two  cities  are  not  farther  apart  than  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, and  you  would  think  that  the  Chinese  w^ould  have 
some  rapid  method  of  getting  from  one  to  the  other.  A 
passenger  train  could  cover  the  distance  in  two  hours,  but 
there  is  no  railroad  which  goes  to  Peking. 

Our  trip  will  have  to  be  made  in  Chinese  fashion,  and 
we  find  that  the  journey  by  land  will  require  two  or  three 
days.  We  might  go  part  of  the  way  by  water,  taking  a 
house  boat  and  making  a  several  days'  sail  up  the  Pei  Ho 
to  the  town  of  Tung  Chow,  which  is  fifteen  miles  from 
Peking.  But  in  this  case  we  should  have  to  use  donkeys 
and  carts  for  the  rest  of  the  trip,  and  if  the  winds  were 
unfavorable  our  sailors  would  walk  on  the  banks  and  pull 
the  boat  up  the  river  by  a  rope  tied  to  its  mast.  We  shall 
therefore  travel  the  whole  way  by  land.  We  can  ride  on 
ponies  or  in  carts,  or,  if  we  would  go  very  cheaply,  we  can 
each  hire  a  wheelbarrow  and  be  pushed  and  pulled  to 
Peking  by  men. 

And  do  the  Chinese  travel  on  wheelbarrows  .'' 

Yes,  you  see  people  riding  upon  them  in  all  the  great 
cities.  In  Shanghai  there  are  nearlv  two  thousand  pas- 
senger wheelbarrows.     Vast  quantities  of  goods  arc  carried 


io8 


CHINA. 


from  one  city  to  another  in  this  way,  and  if  we  have  a 
strong  wind  during  our  trip  over  the  Great  Plain,  we  may 
see  some  of  these  barrows  with  sails  fastened  to  them  so 
that  the  pushers  may  be  helped  on  by  the  wind.  We  find 
many  barrows  with  both  men  and  donkeys  harnessed  in 
front,  thus  aiding  the  owner,  who  holds  up  the  handles 
and  shoves  hard  behind. 


A  Passenger  Wheelbarrow. 

The  Chinese  wheelbarrow  is  larger  and  heavier  than 
ours.  The  wheel  comes  up  through  the  center  of  the  bed, 
instead  of  being  at  the  front  end.  There  is  a  framework 
over  the  wheel,  and  the  passenger  sits,  with  no  support 
for  his  back,  on  the  ledge  on  one  side  of  the  framework, 
facing  the  front.  He  rests  one  leg  on  the  ledge,  and  sup- 
ports the  other  foot  by  a  stirrup  of  rope  which  is  fastened 
to  the  front   edge   of  the  barrow  ;    and   he   holds  on  by 


A    TRIP  TO   riilvLXG. 


109 


throwing  his  arm  over  the  framework  inclosing  the  wheel. 
Such  barrows,  however,  are  used  more  for  freight  than  for 
passengers.  They  form,  to  a  large  extent,  the  drays  of 
the  country,  and  they  carry  much  of  the  goods  which  go 
from  Tientsin  to  the  capital,  the  boxes  and  bales  being 
tied  to  the  ledges  on  each  side  of  the  wheel.  You  may 
see,  now  and  then,  a  barrow  with  a  hog  or  sheep  on  one 
side  and  on  the  other  a  pretty  Chinese  girl,  who,  like  as 
not,  has  paper  flowers  in  her  hair  and  rouge  on  her  cheeks. 


"—the  common  means  of  Chinese  road  travel-" 

I  have  traveled  to  Peking  in  every  way  except  on  the 
wheelbarrow,  and  by  my  advice  we  take  carts.  Those 
form  the  common  means  of  Chinese  road  travel,  and  they 
are  in  use  all  over  the  empire.  Usually  each  cart  is  pulled 
by  two  shaggy  mules,  harnessed  one  in  front  of  the  other, 
and  driven  by  a  Chinaman  who  sits  on  the  shafts. 

What  a  clumsy  vehicle  a  Chinese  cart  is !  Its  two 
wheels  are  twice  as  heavv  as  those  of  the  carts  used  in  the 


no 


CHINA. 


United  States  for  repairing  the  roads.  The  shafts  are 
about  half  as  thick  as  telegraph  poles,  and  the  bed  of  the 
cart  rests  upon  them  without  springs.  Above  the  bed  is 
a  framework  covered  with  blue  canvas  which  forms  the 
roof  of  the  cart.  This  is  too  low  for  a  seat  to  be  placed 
beneath  it,  and  we  are  told  to  get  in  and  sit  fiat  on  the 
bottom  of  the  cart.  There  is  no  support  for  our  backs, 
and  when  we  attempt  to  lie  down  we  find  the  bed  so  short 
that  our  feet  hang  out  at  the  front,  disturbing  the  driver. 

The  mules  go  on  a  trot,  and  our  flesh  is  almost  jolted  to 
jelly  by  the  ruts  of  the  road.  The  dust  is  so  thick  that 
we  can  taste  it.  Our  lips  become  dry,  and  when  we  lick 
them  they  are  straightway  coated  with  clay.     We  are  tired 

out  before  we  have  rid- 
den ten  miles,  and  we 
are  surprised  when  we 
learn  that  this  is  one  of 
the  best  roads  of  China. 
The  empire  is  said  to 
have  four  thousand 
roads,  but  these  have 
been  so  cut  up  by  the 
wheels  of  the  carts  dur- 
ing the  ages,  that  trav- 
eling upon  them  is  like 
going  through  ditches. 
They  are  filled  with 
clouds  of  dust  when  the  weather  is  dry,  and  when  it  rains 
they  are  turned  into  rivers  of  mud. 

We  see  strange  sights  everywhere  as  we  go  on  our  way 
to  Peking.  We  pass  through  many  villages.  We  spend 
two  nights  in  Chinese  hotels,  the  surroundings  of  which 
make  us  think  of  a  barnyard.     The   rooms  are  stablelike 


PEKING,   THE   GREAT  CAPITAL.  m 

sheds  built  about  a  court  filled  with  donkeys  which  bray 
at  all  hours  of  the  night,  and  with  camels  which  cry  like 
whipped  babies. 

Our  bed  is  an  ovenlike  brick  ledge  about  two  feet  high 
which  fills  one  half  of  the  room.  It  is  heated  by  flues 
running  under  it.  The  fuel  is  straw,  which  quickly  burns 
out;  and  the  bed  is  stone  cold  before  a  new  fire  is 
lighted.  We  are  therefore  alternately  roasting  and  freez- 
ing. There  are  no  springs  and  no  bedding.  We  turn 
over  again  and  again,  and  at  daylight  get  up  with  all  our 
bones  aching. 

We  start  at  six  in  the  morning,  and  ride  until  dusk,  and 
about  ten  o'clock  the  third  day  we  find,  by  the  increased 
number  of  wheelbarrows,  donkeys,  and  carts,  that  we  are 
nearing  the  great  capital  of  China,  and  far  off  in  the  dis- 
tance we  see  the  walls  of  Peking. 


ol*<c 


XIII.    THE   GREAT   CAPITAL   OF   CHINA. 

PEKING  is  a  walled  city.  Its  million  and  a  half  of 
yellow  people  live  in  a  vast  inclosure  surrounded  by 
walls  so  high  that  you  would  have  to  climb  to  the  toj-)  of 
a  very  tall  tree  to  look  over  them.  Think  of  surrounding 
New  York  or  London  by  walls  —  not  fourteen-inch  walls  as 
high  as  a  fence,  but  great  walls  sixty  feet  thick  at  the  bot- 
tom, as  tall  as  a  four-story  house,  and  so  broad  at  the  top 
that  you  could  drive  four  wagonloads  of  hay  side  by  side 
upon  them  without  crowding.  Let  these  walls  be  faced 
inside  and  out  with  gray  bricks,  each  as  thick  as  a  big 
dictionary.  Let  the  space  between  be  filled  with  earth  so 
packed  that  the  ages  have  made  the  whole    as    solid    as 


112  CHINA. 

Stone.  Build  great  towers  here  and  there  upon  the  top 
of  the  structure,  above  gates  which  go  through  it  and 
form  the  entrances  to  the  city ;  and  you  have  some  idea 
of  the  walls  of  Peking. 

Such  walls  surround  every  important  Chinese  city,  and 
it  is  estimated  that  there  are  four  thousand  walled  cities 
in  China.  The  walls  were  built  as  a  means  of  defense. 
Upon  some  of  them  cannon  still  stand,  and  on  others 
piles  of   stone   are  collected    to  be   thrown   down   at  the 


M'^or^Tl^'' ' 


■'-1^  ■  -.  *-9i,-^- 


Baa^i  £ds^  j^^-nSC^i^  , :  ^^^,'^5^:^^^^-.. 


Walls  of  Peking. 

enemy  in  case  of  a  siege.  The  towers  were  intended  for 
watchmen,  that  the  city  might  be  warned  of  the  approach 
of  an  enemy.  The  gates  under  the  towers  are  great 
arched  tunnels  lined  with  stonework.  They  form  the 
only  entrances  to  the  cities,  being  open  during  the  day 
and  closed  at  night  by  doors  plated  with  iron.  There  are 
sixteen  such  gates  leading  into  Peking.  We  can  tell  where 
they  are  by  the  towers,  which  we  see  long  before  we  come 
up  to  the  walls. 

We   ride   for   miles  through  the  dust  outside  the  city 


PEKINC;,   tup:   great  CAriTAL. 


113 


and  finally  reach  one  of  the  gates.  We  are  jostled  by  the 
crowds,  but  our  cartmen  push  their  way  through  the 
entrance,  and  we  climb    up    into   the   tower   and   take  a 


view  of  Peking. 


What  a  curious  city  it  is!  It  looks  like  an  immense 
orchard  cut  up  by  the  wide  dirt  roads  forming  its  streets, 
through  which   move  all   sorts  of   animals,  vehicles,  and 


•.ike  a  view  of  1 


men.  The  city  is  filled  with  trees,  but  among  them  we 
can  see  the  thousands  of  one-story,  stablelike  structures 
of  gray  brick  which  make  up  the  stores  and  homes  of  the 
people.  Here  and  there  a  governm,ent  building,  shaped 
somewhat  like  a  big  American  barn,  rises  above  the  trees ; 
and  all  around,  and  running  here  and  there  through  the 
whole  city,  are  these  mighty  walls. 

Peking  is  divided  by  the  walls  into  throe  different  cities. 
There  is  the  great  Tartar  city  at  the  north;  and  almost  in 


1 14  CHINA. 

the  center  of  this  is  the  imperial  city,  surrounded  by  two 
sets  of  walls,  one  of  which  runs  inside  of  the  other.  The 
imperial  city  contains  many  palaces  roofed  with  yellow 
porcelain  tiles,  in  which  the  emperor  lives  with  his  wives 
and  his  thousands  of  servants.  There  is  the  Chinese  city 
at  the  south,  in  which  we  see  the  temples  of  Agriculture 
and  Heaven,  the  places  to  which  the  emperor,  as  the  rep- 
resentative of  his  nation,  goes  out  in  an  elephant  cart  to 
pray  to  his  ancestors  for  a  prosperous  year,  and  where  in 
the  spring,  with  a  gold-handled  plow,  he  starts  the  first 
furrow,  after  which  all  the  Chinese  farmers  begin  to  put 
in  their  crops. 

It  is  in  the  Chinese  city  that  the  most  of  the  business  of 
Peking  is  done.  The  streets  there  are  narrow,  and  are 
lined  with  all  kinds  of  stores,  as  we  shall  see  later  on. 

The  Tartar  city  is  the  seat  of  government,  and  in  it  we 
shall  find  the  real  capital  of  China.  Centuries  ago  the 
Tartars  from  beyond  the  Great  Wall  conquered  the 
Chinese.  They  reigned  a  short  time,  and  then  were  driven 
out ;  but  a  few  hundred  years  later  they  again  conquered, 
and  since  then  the  rulers  of  China  have  been  of  Tartar 
descent.  The  present  emperor  is  of  that  race,  and  he  has 
a  large  number  of  Tartars,  as  well  as  Chinese,  among  his 
officials.  We  shall  meet  many  of  the  officials  on  the  streets 
of  Peking,  and  we  shall  see  here  types  of  the  curious 
people  who  make  up  this  great  Chinese  Empire. 

Let  us  go  down  from  the  tower,  and  make  our  way 
through  that  crowd  of  pushing,  howling  men  and  beasts 
which  moves  through  the  gate  from  the  Tartar  city  to  the 
Chinese  city  from  sunrise  to  sunset.  What  a  wonderful 
collection  it  is  !  There  are  caravans  of  brown,  woolly  cam- 
els, on  their  way  to  Mongolia,  loaded  with  tea,  and  ridden 
by  fierce-looking  Tartars.    There  are  carts  without  number 


TEKING,    TlIF    (,REAT   CAPITAL. 


115 


containing  the  silk-dressed  nobility,  and  there  are  common 
workmen  known  as  coolies,  half  naked,  on  foot.  There 
are  little  gray  donkeys  by  hundreds  straddled  by  yellow- 
skinned  merchants,  and  urged  on  by  the  blows  of  yellow- 
skinned  donkey  boys  who  follow  behind. 

There  are  sober-faced  scholars  wearing  spectacles,  the 
glasses  of  which  are  as  big  as  silv^er  dollars,  and  there  are 
dandies  dressed  in  satins  and  silks.  There  are  shaven- 
headed  priests  from  Tibet  in  gowns  of  bright  yellow,  and 
travelers  from  all  parts  of  the  empire  in  costumes  of  all 
shades  and  tints.  There  are  barefooted  beggars  in  rags, 
and  there  are  gorgeously  dressed  princes  on  ponies,  all 
pushing  and  scrambling  and  shouting  as  they  force  their 
way  through  the  gate.  The  busiest  parts  of  the  city  have 
similar  crowds,  and  we  hire  donkeys  in  order  to  ride 
through  the  streets. 


ii6 


CHINA. 


><:gsair'=<rr;; 


;t^^l 


? 


A  Street  Lamp. 


How  dirty,  how  vile,  how  shabby  every- 
thing is  !  The  streets  of  Peking  are  dirt 
roads  full  of  ruts,  and  the  carts  are 
dragged  through  them  with  the  mud  up 
to  their  hubs.  The  streets  take  the  place 
of  sewers.  Decent  language  cannot  de- 
scribe their  condition.  Pools  of  dirty 
yellow  water  are  everywhere,  and  wher- 
ever we  walk  in  Peking  we  have  to  pick 
our  way  through  the  filth.  At  night  we 
must  carry  lanterns,  for  the  city  has  neither  gas  nor  elec- 
tricity. Its  only  street  lamps  are  latticework  boxes,  backed 
with  white  paper  and  raised  up  on  a  framework  of  poles 

to  the  height  of  a 
man's  head.  In  the 
boxes  are  candles 
which  are  lighted  at 
night,  and  which 
through  the  paper  cast 
rays  so  dim  that  you 
can  hardly  see  the 
ground  just  beneath 
them. 

Take  a  look  at  the 
stores.  They  are  all 
of  one  story,  with  the 
front  room  coming 
close  to  the  edge  of 
the  street.  There  are 
no  plate-glass  windows. 
The  light  comes  in 
through  open  doors  or  latticework  walls  backed  with  white 
paper.     How  gorgeous  the  fronts  of  the  stores  are !     The 


"The  woodwork  is  carved  - 


PEKING,    THE   GREAl"   CAPITAL. 


117 


woodwork  is  carved,  and  is  painted  with  the  brightest 
of  colors,  in  many  cases  being  covered  with  gold  leaf. 
The  signs  are  long  boards  of  red,  black,  green,  or  gold, 
upon  which  Chinese  characters  are  painted.  The  signs 
run  up  and  down  the  sides  of  a  shop  instead  of  across 
its  top,  as  with  us.  The  merchants  wear  caps  and  long 
gowns,  and  they  keep  their  hats  on  in  the  stores.  They 
stand  behind  counters  as  we  do.  They  are  very  good 
salesmen,  but  they  have  no  fixed  prices,  and  ask  three 
times  as  much  as  they 
think  you  will  pay. 

Here  and  there  we  pass 
banking  establishments, 
and  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets  we  may  often  see 
money  changers  sitting  at 
tables  with  piles  of  copper 
and  brass  coins  before 
them.  These  coins  are 
called  cash.  They  form 
the  chief  money  of  China, 
and  it  takes  about  two 
hundred  of  them  to  equal 
in  value  one  of  our  cents.  They  are  similar  to  the  coins 
we  saw  in  Korea,  being  like  a  big  penny  with  a  square 
hole  in  the  center  in  order  that  they  may  be  strung  upon 
strings.  Cash  are  heavy,  and  we  find  that  thirty  dollars' 
worth  of  them  would  be  a  load  for  a  mule.  Here  are  the 
author  and  his  Chinese  servant  holding  cash,  the  total 
value  of  which  is  not  more  than  ten  dollars.  Large  trans- 
actions are  carried  on  by  means  of  silver,  which  is  valued 
by  weight,  a  Chinese  ounce  being  known  as  a  tael  and 
worth  a  little  more  than  the  silver  in  our  silver  dollar. 


not  more  than  ten  doUa.'-s. 


Il8  CHINA. 

A  Chinese  store,  as  a  rule,  sells  but  one  kind  of  goods, 
and  stores  of  the  same  kind  are  usually  to  be  found  close 
together.  There  are  streets  lined  with  book  stores,  and  in 
some  parts  of  the  city  we  find  scores  of  hat  stores  and  fur 
stores  and  shoe  stores. 

There  are  many  things  sold  which  would  seem  strange 
if  offered  for  sale  in  America.  The  drug  stores,  for  in- 
stance, have  board  signs  advertising  ground  tigers'  bones 
to  strengthen  faint  hearts,  and  extracts  of  rat  flesh  to 
make  the  hair  grow.  There  are  shops  which  sell  nothing 
but  gold  and  silver  paper,  which  the  Chinese  burn  at  the 
graves  of  the  dead  in  order  that  they  may  not  go  without 
money  into  the  land  of  spirits. 

We  shall  find  large  establishments  that  make  and  sell 
coffins,  some  of  which  cost  hundreds  of  dollars.  The 
Chinese  often  buy  their  coffins  a  long  time  before  death, 
and  it  is  not  unusual  for  a  good  son  to  present  his 
father  or  mother  with  a  fine  coffin  at  New  Year's.  The 
father  will  keep  the  present  in  the  best  room  of  his  house, 
and  will  show  it  with  pride  to  his  neighbors. 

There  are  many  bird  stores  in  Peking.  The  Chinese 
are  fond  of  pets,  and  we  shall  see  old  men  on  the  streets 
who  carry  little  birds  about  with  them  on  sticks  which 
they  hold  in  their  hands.  The  legs  of  the  bird  are  fastened 
to  the  stick  by  a  string  which  permits  it  to  fly  a  short  dis- 
tance. We  find  pigeons  sold  on  the  edge  of  the  markets. 
These  birds  are  the  messengers  of  Peking,  and  they  are, 
perhaps,  the  only  pigeons  in  the  world  that  whistle.  As 
they  fly  through  the  air  they  make  a  noise  which  on  the 
approach  of  a  flock  sounds  like  a  whole  school  of  boys 
blowing  on  tin  whistles.  This  noise  comes  from  whistles 
of  wood  which  the  people  tie  to  the  tails  of  their  birds  to 
scare  off  the  hawks. 


PEKING,    THE   GREAT   CAPITAL.  119 

There  are  great  porcelain  stores  in  Peking,  and  shops 
which  contain  the  finest  of  silks  and  the  most  beautiful 
satins.  There  are  lock  peddlers  by  hundreds,  and  hard- 
ware stores.  There  are  places  where  wood  is  sold  in  little 
bundles  by  weight,  and  where  you  may  buy  for  fuel  round 
lumps  of  mud  mixed  with  coal  dust,  of  about  the  size  of 
a  baseball,  for  a  few  cash  apiece. 

Another  surprise  meets  us  in  the  markets.  We  have 
thought  of  the  Chinese  as  living  on  nothing  but  rice,  cats, 
dogs,  and  rats,  but  we  discover  that  their  markets  are 
almost  as  good  as  ours.  They  have  the  choicest  of  fruits, 
and  we  can  buy  oranges,  grapes,  and  nuts  of  all  sorts. 
They  have  many  kinds  of  fish,  which  they  bring  alive  to 
the  cities,  keeping  them  in  tubs  of  water  until  they  are 
sold.  They  have  excellent  mutton  from  the  sheep  of 
north  China,  which  are  of  the  fat-tailed  variety,  a  single 
sheep's  tail  often  weighing  several  pounds.  They  have 
all  sorts  of  game,  and  you  can  buy  deer  and  squirrels, 
snipe,  quails,  and  many  other  kinds  of  birds. 

One  of  the  chief  meats  sold  is  pork.  We  shall  see 
black  hogs  all  over  China.  They  trot  through  the  streets 
of  Peking,  and  they  wallow  in  the  puddles  by  the  side  of 
the  road  near  the  gates  to  the  emperor's  palaces.  They 
seem  to  us  the  dirtiest  hogs  in  the  world,  but  the  Chinese 
think  that  there  is  no  meat  more  delicious  than  pork. 
They  are  especially  fond  of  one  kind  of  this  meat  which 
is  produced  on  an  island  off  the  coast  of  south  China, 
the  pigs  from  which  it  comes  being  fed  almost  entirely  on 
sweet  potatoes  and  chestnuts. 

As  to  cats,  dogs,  and  rats,  these  are  sometimes  sold  and 
eaten  in  the  poorer  parts  of  the  cities.  I  once  bought  a 
dried  rat  in  Canton  for  three  cents,  and  I  have  visited 
restaurants  where  soups  and  stews  of  cat  and  dog  meat 

CARP.  ASIA—  S 


120  CHINA. 

are  kept  always  on  hand.  In  one  place  I  saw  a  dog 
being  cooked.  The  flesh  looked  like  pork,  the  fur  having 
been  scalded  and  scraped  from  the  skin,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  bit  on  the  end  of  the  tail.  This  bit  of  fur  was 
jet  black,  and  it  was  left  on  to  show  the  dog's  color,  as  the 
flesh  of  black  cats  and  black  dogs  is  considered  the  best. 


XIV.     THE   EMPEROR,  AND    HOW   CHINA    IS 
GOVERNED. 

FROM  the  walls  of  Peking  we  can  see  the  roofs  of  the 
emperor's  palaces.  They  are  made  of  bright  yellow 
tiles  which  blaze  like  gold  under  the  sun.  Yellow  is  the 
imperial  color  of  China,  and  almost  everything  connected 
with  his  majesty  is  of  this  golden  hue.  When  the  em- 
peror goes  out  into  the  city,  the  streets  and  roads  over 
which  the  royal  procession  is  to  pass  are  first  covered  with 
bright  yellow  clay,  and  we  may  see  Chinese  laborers  bring- 
ing such  dirt  into  the  city  in  wheelbarrows  during  our 
stay. 

But  can  we  not  see  the  emperor  himself .-" 

No,  such  a  thing  is  impossible.  No  foreigner  except  the 
ministers  is  allowed  to  call  upon  him.  He  lives  in  his 
palaces  inside  the  walls  of  what  is  called  the  Pink  For- 
bidden City,  shut  off  from  all  foreigners  and  from  even 
his  own  people.  If  any  one  dares  to  go  through  the  gates 
of  the  imperial  city  without  permission,  he  will  be  flogged 
with  one  hundred  strokes  of  a  bamboo  stick  upon  his  bare 
thighs;  and  a  stranger  found  in  the  emperor's  apartments 
would  surely  be  strangled.  Even  the  servants  and  those 
who  have  business  with  the  emperor  must  have  passes  to 


GOVERNMENT   AND    EDUCATION. 


IJI 


go  in  and  out,  and  the  guards  at  the  gates  scowl  at  all 
foreigners. 

When  the  emperor  takes  an  airing,  the  Chinese  officials 
send  word  to  our  minister  that  Americans  will  go  upon  the 
street  at  their  peril.  The  soldiers  at  such  times  clear  the 
streets  of  all  carts.  The  people  are  supposed  to  remain 
within  doors.  They  hang  mattings  up  in  front  of  their 
houses,  and  strips  of 
blue  cotton  are  stretched 
across  the  side  streets, 
so  that  no  one  may  look 
out.  As  the  procession 
goes  by,  the  Chinese  get 
down  on  their  knees 
behind  the  mats,  and 
bump  their  heads  on  the 
ground  in  honor  of  the 
emperor.  If,  being  out 
in  the  country  and  un- 
able to  get  out  of  the 
way,  they  should  sud- 
denly come  upon  such 
a  procession,  they  must 
at  once  get  down  on 
their  knees  and  keep 
their  heads  on  the  ground  until  his  majesty  has  passed  out 
of  sight.  The  emperor  has  soldiers  with  him.  and  he  is 
usually  accompanied  by  archers.  These  look  out  for 
sight-seers,  and  the  man  who  peeps  through  a  hole  in 
the  mats  may  get  an  arrow  or  a  bullet  shot  into  his  eyes. 

The  Chinese  call  their  emperor  "The  Smi  of  Heaven," 
and  thoy  look  upon  him  as  holv.  He  is  so  great  that  his 
officials  have  to  remain  on  their  knees  while  they  are  in 


A   Chinese  Archer. 


122 


CHINA. 


his  presence.  When  he  tried  to  learn  English  some  time 
ago,  his  teachers  knelt  before  him  while  they  taught  him 
his  lessons. 

The  emperor  is  an  absolute  monarch  who  rules  his  peo- 
ple through  many  officials.     He  has  his  cabinet  ministers, 

who  preside  over  the  govern- 
ment departments,  and  who  have 
many  officers  and  clerks  under 
them.  The  ministers  report  to 
his  majesty  the  most  important 
measures  for  his  sanction.  If 
the  emperor  approves,  he  makes 
marks  to  this  effect  upon  their 
reports  with  a  red  paint  brush 
known  as  the  vermilion  pencil, 
and  the  measure  becomes  a  law. 
In  a  vast  empire  like  that  of 
China,  however,  only  a  very  few 
of  the  public  matters  can  be 
submitted  to  the  emperor,  and 
the  business  of  the  government 
is  largely  left  to  the  officials, 
many  of  whom  are  very  corrupt  and  take  a  large  share 
of  the  public  moneys  for  their  own  use.  There  are  eigh- 
teen provinces  or  states  in  China,  each  of  which  has  a 
governor  with  hundreds  of  officials  under  him.  Each 
village  has  its  own  officers,  and  every  family  is,  to  a  large 
extent,  responsible  for  the  good  conduct  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. If  a  boy  commits  a  crime,  his  father,  his  elder 
brothers,  and  his  teachers  are  sometimes  punished,  as  well 
as  himself ;  for  the  Chinese  say  that  if  they  had  taught 
him  properly  he  would  not  have  broken  the  laws. 

All  cities  and  villages  have  jails,  and  the  punishments 


A  High  Official. 


GOVERNMENT  AND    EDUCATION. 


123 


connected  with  them  are  among  the  most  cruel  of  the 
world.  For  small  offenses  the  criminal  must  wear  about 
his  neck  a  frame  of  heavy  boards  called  a  cangue  (kang). 
The  frame  is  about  three  feet  square,  or  about  the  size  of 
the  top  of  an  ordinary  kitchen  table.  It  is  made  in  pieces 
so  that  it  can  be  opened  and  the  man's  neck  fitted  into  a 
hole  in  the  center.  The  common  cangue  weighs  twenty- 
five  pounds,  but  there  are  many  so  loaded  with  iron  bars 
that  they  weigh  as  much  as  ninety  pounds. 

Now,  if  you  wall  imagine  your  neck  fastened  through  a 
hole  in  a  kitchen  table  weighted  with  iron,  you  can  see 
how  you  would  be  punished  if  you  committed  a  very  small 
crime  in  China.  You  would  find  that  the  frame  extended 
out  so  far  beyond  your  neck  that  you  could  not  possibly 
reach  your  mouth,  and  you  would  have  to  rely  upon 
others  to  feed  you.  You  could 
not  lie  down  with  such  a  frame 
fastened  about  your  neck,  and 
if  a  fly  or  a  bee  happened  to 
light  on  your  nose  you  could 
dislodge  it  only  by  shaking  your 
head.  Upon  the  top  of  the 
cangue,  on  each  side  of  the  hole, 
are  pasted  strips  of  paper  de- 
scribing the  crime  committed  by 
the  wearer,  and  the  people  sto)-) 
and  read  them  as  the  criminal 
passes  through  the  streets. 

The  worst  crimes  that  can  be  committed,  we  find,  are 
those  by  children  against  parents.  There  is  no  other  land 
where  fathers  and  mothers  have  so  much  power.  Par- 
ents have  the  right  to  whip  their  children  to  death  if  they 
will  not  obey.     The  punishment  for  striking  a  parent  in 


"For  small  offenses- 


1 24  CHINA. 

China  is  death,  and  if  a  son  kills  his  father  or  mother  he  is 
condemned  to  execution  by  the  slow  process  known  by  the 
Chinese  as  "ling  che."  The  man  is  tied  to  a  cross  and  is 
slowly  sliced  into  pieces.  Only  a  small  piece  of  flesh  is 
taken  off  at  a  time,  until  his  eyebrows,  the  muscles  of  his 
arms,  the  calves  of  his  legs,  his  cheeks,  and  other  parts 
of  his  body  have  been  removed  ;  and  the  man  dies  by 
inches,  as  it  were,  from  the  numerous  cuts. 

The  Chinese,  however,  love  their  children  as  much  as 
our  parents  love  us,  and  it  is  seldom  that  any  one  becomes 
liable  to  this  terrible  punishment.  Obedience  to  parents 
does  not  stop  when  children  grow  up,  but  it  lasts  until  the 
death  of  the  parents.  Men  and  women  are  often  whipped 
by  their  fathers  and  mothers,  and  a  man  after  he  is  mar- 
ried often  asks  his  mother's  permission  if  he  wants  to  go 
out  after  dark.  I  remember  an  instance  which  occurred 
during  my  stay  in  Canton  some  years  ago.  Mr.  How 
Qua,  a  Chinese  millionaire  about  forty  years  old,  was 
asked  to  dinner  by  the  American  consul.  He  replied, 
"  I  think  I  can  come,  but  I  must  first  ask  my  mamma." 

You  would  not  suppose  that  any  people  could  have  such 
barbarous  customs  as  the  punishments  here  described,  and 
still  have,  in  some  respects,  a  high  degree  of  education 
and  civilization.  The  Chinese,  however,  are  full  of  con- 
tradictions. They  are  as  polite  to  one  another  as  any 
people  of  the  world.  They  are  fond  of  books,  and  they 
are  great  philosophers,  always  talking  about  virtue  and 
justice. 

The  ruling  class  is  made  up  of  the  scholars  of  the 
empire.  Many  of  the  highest  officials  have  been  poor 
boys,  and  the  aim  of  nearly  every  schoolboy  in  China  is 
to  learn  his  lessons  so  well  that  he  may  become  an  official, 
for  it  is  through  good  scholarship  that  officials  are  chosen. 


A  Chinese  Girl. 


GOVERNMENT   AND    EDUCATION.  1 35 

The  Studies  are  mostly  made  up  of  Chinese  history  and  of 
the  sayings  of  Confucius  and  Mencius,  two  great  Chinese 
scholars  who  lived  centuries  ago.  The  studying  consists 
largely  of  memorizing  the  works  of  the  great  Chinese 
scholars,  and  of  writing  essays  and 


poems  on  virtue,  justice,  and  govern-     ,lf*t$*fi^^^^*$ 
ment.     The  boys  also  learn  a  little 
arithmetic,   for    which    they    use    a 
framework    of    buttons    on    w-ires, 

The  Chinese  Counting  Box. 

much    like    the    Japanese   soroban. 

But  the  Chinese  have  no  other  such  practical  studies  as 

we  have  —  as,  for  instance,  chemistry  and  geology. 

Education  is  confined  to  the  boys,  and  few  girls  ever 
learn  even  to  read.  There  are  no  public  schools,  and  the 
teachers  receive  their  pay  from  the  pupils.  A  boy  is  sent 
to  school  at  five  or  six  years  of  age,  and  on  the  first  day 
he  carries  a  red  visiting  card  with  him.  He  also  takes  a 
present  of  money  to  his  teacher.  He  always  bows  to  the 
teacher  when  he  enters  or  leaves  the  room.  He  studies 
out  loud,  and,  as  we  go  through  the  streets  of  Peking,  we 
shall  often  hear  a  noise  as  though  a  dozen  boys  were 
fighting  and  howling.  If  we  follow  the  noise,  we  shall 
find  that  it  comes  from  a  school,  and  that  the  boys  are 
merely  learning  their  lessons.  They  sit  either  on  their 
heels  on  the  floor,  or  on  benches  before  tables,  and  they 
shout  out  at  the  tops  of  their  voices  the  words  they  are 
trying  to  commit.  If  a  boy  stops  shouting,  the  teacher 
thinks  he  has  stopped  studying,  and  gives  him  a  caning. 

Let  us  see  how  the  reciting  is  done.  The  teacher  calls 
a  boy  to  his  desk.  The  boy  hands  his  book  to  the  teacher, 
and  then,  turning  his  back  so  that  there  may  be  no  chance 
of  his  getting  a  peep  at  the  book,  rattles  off  his  lessons  by 
rote. 


126  CHINA. 

The  Chinese  boy  must  learn  to  read  and  write  the 
Chinese  language,  and  he  must  commit  to  memory  many 
thousands  of  verses  during  his  school  life.  At  about  the 
age  of  seventeen  he  is  ready  to  take  his  first  public  exami- 
nation, and  he  goes  to  the  capital  of 
:K  ft^\  [^  ^  flfl  "^  ^hc  district  in  which  he  lives.  He 
^  '{^L  ^  i^^p^f^  finds  thousands  of  other  boys  there. 
M^  ^h  0t  3^  3f  ^  The  government  ofificials  are  in  charge 
^llfe  'if^'p^  W  ^^  °^  the, examination.  At  the  firing  of 
*^  iM.  3^-  ^  '4'  ^  2-  cannon  the  boys  go  into  great  halls 
"l^  ^  *^/  ii^  '^  ^  and  sit  down  at  tables  to  write  essays 
^1^  ^  W)  ftk  ^  ^  ^ri^  poems.  The  examination  lasts 
S^P  ^  ^  j^  ^'^  several  days,  and  it  is  so  strict  that 
i^  V\i  #''l^  f^.  ^^  only  about  one  student  in  a  hundred 
^  /T  'f^l^  Jt  ^  ^  is  ^^'^  t^  pass.  After  passing  this 
^  3\  f ^  l?»  ^  iS  ^^^^>  there  is  another  examination  at 
,    ^,.       „  ,        the  capital  of  the  province,  and  the 

Portion  of  a  Chinese  Book.  ^  '■ 

Students  who  are  successful  there 
have  the  right  to  go  to  Peking  to  be  examined  for  a  still 
higher  rank. 

-  The  Peking  examination  halls  consist  of  rows  of  little 
brick  cells.  Each  one  is  about  big  enough  to  form  a  stall 
for  a  donkey.  It  is  open  in  front,  but  it  has  neither 
windows  nor  doors.  The  student  sits  on  a  board  which 
is  set  into  the  wall  at  about  the  height  of  a  chair,  and 
he  writes  on  another  board  above  this  which  serves  as  a 
table.  Each  student  carries  his  own  food,  candles,  paper, 
and  ink  into  his  cell  with  him,  having  first  been  searched 
by  the  officials  to  see  that  he  has  no  notes  concealed  in 
his  clothes.  He  is  watched  by  soldiers  all  the  time  he  is 
in  the  cell,  and  for  three  days  and  nights  he  writes  poems 
and  essays  upon  subjects  which  are  given  out  at  the  time. 
Those  who  pass  this  examination   are  sure  of  an  office, 


GOVERNMENT   AND    EDUCATION. 


127 


and  the  boy  or  man  who   stands  highest  is  honored  all 
over  China. 

At  the  Peking  examinations  there  are  men  of  all  ages. 
Persons  who  fail  try  again  and  again,  and  grandfather  and 
grandson  often  write  their  essays  in  neighboring  cells. 
The  examination  is  sometimes  so  hard  that  the  worry  and 


-~^-  r  .-i~\ 


Exanundtion  Halls  ai  Peking. 

fatigue  of  sitting  up  for  three  days  and  nights  causes 
death  ;  and  in  the  walls  which  surround  the  examination 
halls  of  Peking  we  may  see  a  hole  where  the  students  who 
die  during  the  tost  are  dragged  out.  Not  long  ago,  a 
bright  Chinese  boy  who  had  finished  his  essay  grew  tired 
and  drojiped  off  to  sloop.  Mis  candle  fell  oyer  and  his 
papers  woro  buriKil.  \\c  was  so  ilisappointed  by  the  acci- 
dent that  he  killed  himself  in  his  cell. 


128  CHINA. 


XV.     THE   GREAT   WALL   OF   CHINA. 

A  RIDE  of  three  days  on  donkeys  takes  us  from 
Peking  to  the  Great  Wall  of  China.  The  road  goes 
through  the  mountains,  and  is  therefore  too  rough  for 
carts.  We  have  learned  a  lesson  from  the  sleepless  nights 
we  passed  on  our  way  to  Peking,  and  we  carry  our  own 
bedding,  which  we  lay  on  the  brick  floors  of  our  rooms  in 
the  Chinese  inns  where  we  stay  over  night. 

Our  donkeys  are  not  much  larger  than  Newfoundland 
dogs.  The  saddles  are  made  of  a  number  of  blankets 
piled  up  on  their  backs  and  so  strapped  that  they  stand 
out  like  flat  boards.  The  stirrups  are  heavy  iron  rings 
tied  to  the  blankets  with  pieces  of  rope.  The  donkeys 
have  bridles,  but  these  have  been  put  on  them  because 
we  are  foreigners.  The  Chinese  seldom  use  bridles  on 
donkeys,  and  the  average  Chinese  donkey  does  not  under- 
stand the  use  of  the  bit.  He  is  accustomed  to  being 
directed  this  way  or  that  by  a  blow  on  the  neck  with  a 
club.  Each  donkey  is  driven  by  a  boy,  who  runs  at  the 
side  or  behind,  with  a  stick  in  his  hand. 

In  addition  to  our  donkeys  we  take  some  mule  litters,  in 
which  we  can  ride  when  we  are  tired.  The  mule  litter  is 
a  sort  of  a  kennel-like  box,  covered  with  cloth,  and  swung 
between  two  thick  poles,  each  about  thirty  feet  long. 
These  poles  stick  out  in  front  and  behind,  forming  two 
pairs  of  shafts,  in  which  the  mules  walk  or  trot  in  single 
file.  The  shafts  are  bound  to  the  sides  of  the  mules. 
The  litter  is  open  in  front.  It  is  furnished  with  blankets, 
and  you  crawl  in  and  lie  down,  being  jolted  by  the  mules 
as  they  carry  you  over  the  road. 

It  takes  us  more  than  an  hour  to  pass  through  the  city 


THE   GREAT   WALL. 


129 


from  our  hotel  to  the  gates,  and  outside  the  walls  at  the 
north  we  find  the  roads  lined  for  a  long  distance  with  mud 
huts.  We  cross  marble  bridges,  and  soon  reach  the  great 
highway  which  goes  from  China  to  Mongolia,  and  over 
which  pass  millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  goods  every  year. 
Riding  upon  it  is  worse  than  traveling  through  newly 
plowed  fields.     The  feet  of  thousands  of  donkeys,  and  of 


A  Mule  Litter. 


tens  of  thousands  of  camels,  and  the  wheels  of  hundreds 
of  rude  Chinese  carts  have  cut  the  road  up  into  hollows 
and  ruts.  The  bed  of  the  road  has  been  worn  down  so 
that  in  many  places  it  is  little  more  than  a  wide  ditch 
through  the  fields.  We  are  often  turned  out  of  our  way 
by  gorges  and  pools  of  half-liquid  mud,  and  our  animals 
are  often  in  the  mud  up  to  their  bellies.  We  cannot  make 
more  than  thirty  miles  a  day. 


130 


CHINA. 


The  road  in  some  places  is  so  narrow  that  we  have  to 
step  aside  for  the  caravans  of  camels,  which  in  single  file, 
with  soft,  velvety  steps,  move  silently  and  contemptuously 
along.  Six  of  these  beasts  are  tied  one  to  another  by  ropes 
fastened  to  sticks  thrust  through  the  flesh  of  their  noses. 
The  last  camel  of  each  six  has  about  his  neck  an  iron  bell 
as  big  around  as  a  stovepipe,  and  about  a  foot  long.     This 


"  —  in  single  file  —  " 

keeps  up  a  dingdong  as  long  as  he  moves,  and  announces 
to  the  Mongolian  driver  that  his  six  of  the  caravan  are  all 
right.  Each  camel  carries  two  tea  boxes,  one  strapped  on 
each  side  of  his  back.  These  bob  up  and  down  as  the 
great  beast,  grumbling  and  whining,  goes  on  his  way.  As 
we  get  further  north  the  camels  increase  in  number.  We 
pass  some  caravans  almost  a  mile  long,  and  we  see  them 
far  away  on  the  horizon  standing  out  like  a  long,  moving 
fence  against  the  blue  sky  of  north  China. 


THE   GREAT   WALL.  131 

We  soon  come  to  the  hills  and  at  last  arrive  at  the  Nan- 
kow  Pass,  by  which  the  caravans  cross  the  mountains  on 
their  way  to  the  north.  This  pass  is  the  chief  line  of  travel, 
and  for  more  than  ten  generations  its  road  has  been  trod- 
den by  millions.  It  is  one  of  the  roughest  roads  in  the 
world.  On  a  trip  to  the  Great  Wall  I  once  met  a  foreigner 
who  had  attempted  to  go  through  with  a  cart.  He  was 
forced  to  leave  this  vehicle  when  he  came  to  the  moun- 
tains, and  to  hire  a  camel,  which  carried  the  cart  through 
on  its  back. 

We  pick  our  way  in  and  out  among  great  stones  for 
fifteen  miles,  stopped  now  and  then  by  droves  of  black 
hogs  and  flocks  of  sheep  with  fat  tails.  We  wind  in 
and  out  along  the  bed  of  one  stream  after  another,  until 
at  last,  on  the  hills  in  the  distance,  we  get  our  first  sight 
of  the  Great  Chinese  Wall.  Many  times  we  think  we 
are  close  to  it,  when  a  sharp  turn  shows  that  it  is  still 
miles  away.  We  can  see  it  cutting  its  way  across  the 
mountains,  going  from  peak  to  peak,  seeming  almost  to 
crawl  over  the  hills.  We  finally  come  to  the  gate  which 
leads  into  Mongolia.  Then,  going  off  to  the  side,  we 
find  an  inclined  plane  or  roadway  by  which  we  can  ride 
on  our  donkeys  up  to  the  top  of  the  wall,  and  explore 
this  wonderful  structure. 

The  Great  Wall  was  built  by  the  Chinese  as  a  means  of 
defense  against  the  invasion  of  the  Tartar  hordes  from  the 
north.  It  begins  at  the  sea  and  runs  over  the  mountains 
clear  across  the  northern  boundary  of  China  proper,  just 
south  of  the  vast  tributary  provinces  of  Manchuria  and 
Mongolia,  until  it  reaches  the  Desert  of  Gobi,  north  of 
Tibet.  In  a  straight  line  it  is  more  than  twelve  hundred 
miles  long,  and  with  its  windings  it  measures,  all  told,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  fifteen  hundred  miles.    It  is  about  twentv-five 


132 


CHINA. 


feet  wide  and  thirty  feet  high.  It  is  composed  of  a  mass 
of  stone  and  earth  mixed  together  and  faced  with  walls  of 
gray  or  slate-colored  brick,  the  interior  being  so  packed 
down  and  filled  in  that  throughout  much  of  its  eastern 
portion  it  is  as  solid  as  stone. 

Near  the  city  of  Shanhai-kwan  (shan'hl-kwan'),  on  the 
edge  of  the  sea,  a  part  of  the  wall  has  been  thrown  down; 


"The  Great  Wall  of  China  was  built  right  over  the  mountains." 

and  I  there  found  that  the  brick  outer  facing -was  about 
three  feet  in  thickness.  The  bricks  were  fifteen  inches 
long,  seven  inches  wide,  and  a  little  more  than  three  inches 
thick ;  and  one  which  I  brought  with  me  back  to  Amer- 
ica weighs  just  twenty-one  pounds  and  five  ounces.  The 
top  of  the  Great  Wall  is  paved  with  such  bricks,  and 
along  its  northern  side,  throughout  its  whole  length,  there 


THE   GREAT   WALL.  1 33 

is  a  battlement  or  fortlike  wall,  behind  which  the  Chinese 
archers  lay  and  shot  at  the  Tartars. 

Great  two-  and  three-story  towers  were  built  at  short 
intervals  upon  the  wall.  They  are  made  of  bricks  similar 
to  those  just  described.  They  rise  about  forty  feet  above 
the  top  of  the  structure,  and  they  have  many  portholes, 
through  which  you  can  see  for  miles  over  the  country. 
The  top  of  the  wall  is  about  ten  feet  narrower  than  its 
base,  but  is  so  wide  that  four  horses  could  be  easily  ridden 
abreast  along  its  paved  highway. 

The  Great  Wall  is  just  about  as  high  as  a  three-story 
house,  and  its  width  is  that  of  the  average  parlor.  Now, 
if  you  will  imagine  a  solid  line  of  three-story  houses  made 
of  bluish-gray  bricks,  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  wide, 
built  across  the  United  States  from  the  city  of  New  York 
to  Omaha,  you  will  have  some  idea  of  the  size  of  the 
Great  Chinese  Wall.  It  would  be  far  easier,  however,  for 
us  to  build  such  a  line  of  houses  than  it  was  for  the  Chinese 
to  construct  their  mighty  wall.  Our  line  would  cross  the 
States  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  It  would  cut  the 
rolling  plains  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa,  where 
water  is  plentiful,  where  there  is  much  clay,  and  where  the 
railroads  could  be  used  for  carrying  the  materials. 

The  Great  Wall  of  China  was  built  right  over  the  moun- 
tains. It  climbs  the  steepest  of  crags,  and  in  one  place 
it  goes  over  a  peak  which  is  more  than  five  thousand  feet 
high.  In  some  parts,  there  is  no  clay  within  thirty  miles 
of  it.  The  bricks  were  all  made  by  hand,  and  many  of  the 
hills  which  the  wall  crosses  are  so  steep  that  it  is  said 
that  the  Chinese  had  to  tie  the  bricks  to  the  backs  of 
sheep  and  goats  in  order  to  get  them  to  the  builders. 
There  arc  few  cattle  or  horses  in  China,  and  every  foot 
of  this  wall  was  made  without  the  aid  of  machinery. 


1 34  CHINA. 

The  Chinese  historians  say  that  it  took  an  army  of  three 
hundred  thousand  men  to  protect  the  builders,  and  millions 
of  people  must  have  been  employed  upon  it.  They  state 
that  this  vast  work  was  begun  and  completed  in  the  short 
space  of  ten  years,  and,  as  we  consider  it,  we  are  more  and 
more  astonished  at  its  construction  and  size.  It  is  now  in 
ruins  throughout  some  parts  of  its  length,  and  the  portions 
nearest  the  western  end,  it  is  said,  have  almost  crumbled 
to  dust. 

The  wall  has  been  repaired  several  times,  but  much  of 
the  structure  is  supposed  to  be  almost  the  same  to-day 
as  when  it  was  built.  No  one  can  stand  upon  it  and  not 
be  impressed  with  the  past  greatness  of  the  Chinese  nation. 
It  was  built  seventeen  hundred  years  before  America  was 
discovered,  when  Rome  was  still  a  republic,  and  more 
than  two  hundred  years  before  Christ  was  born.  The 
Chinese  must  have  had  at  that  time  a  high  degree  of 
civilization  in  order  to  possess  such  a  mighty  army  and 
be  able  to  unite  their  people  in  such  a  work. 


XVI.     CHINESE    BOATS   AND   THE   BOAT 
PEOPLE. 

WE  leave  Peking  and  travel  for  days,  going  south 
through  the  Great  Plain  to  the  Yangtze  Kiang 
or  Yangtze  River.  We  are  on  the  Grand  Canal,  which 
was  built  by  the  Chinese  centuries  ago  as  one  of  the 
trade  routes  of  the  empire.  It  runs  from  Tientsin  six 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  southward,  crossing  and  joining 
many  large  streams,  and  cutting  its  way  through  the  most 
thickly  populated  plain  on  the  globe.     At  short  intervals 


BOATS  AND  BOAT  PEOPLE.  1 35 

along  its  course  we  find  walled  cities.  We  pass  many 
towns ;  and  the  clumps  of  trees  which  we  sec  scattered 
everywhere  over  the  landscape,  each  marking  the  site  of 
a  little  farm  settlement,  show  us  the  truth  of  the  state- 
ment that  China  is  a  country  of  thousands  of  villages. 

The  Grand  Canal  varies  in  width  at  different  points 
along  its  course.  In  some  parts  it  has  followed  the  beds 
of  rivers,  and  winds  in  and  out,  going  for  many  miles 
without  a  lock.  Here  and  there  between  the  Hoang  Ho 
and  the  Yangtze  Kiang,  where  the  land  is  low,  the  canal 
is  built  upon  a  raised  work  of  earth  kept  together  by  walls 
of  stone.  Some  portions  of  this  embankment  are  twenty 
feet  high,  and  the  stream  which  flows  upon  it  is  at  some 
points  two  hundred  feet  wide.  In  most  places,  however, 
the  canal  is  fast  going  to  ruin. 

In  sailing  through  the  canal  we  cross  the  Hoang  Ho  or 
Yellow  River,  which,  although  more  than  twenty-five  hun- 
dred miles  long,  is  navigable  for  only  small  boats.  We  go 
on  further  south  until  wc  find  ourselves  in  that  mighty 
stream  known  as  the  Yangtze  Kiang.  Here  we  take  a 
Chinese  steamer,  and,  in  company  with  many  native  pas- 
sengers, sail  up  the  river.  The  Yangtze  is  more  than  three 
thousand  miles  long,  and  large  ocean  steamers  can  pass 
up  its  course  for  more  than  seven  hundred  miles.  Many 
streams  flow  into  it,  and  we  see  the  masts  and  sails  of 
boats  moving  rapidly  through  these  across  the  green  fields. 

From  our  steamer  we  sec  dikes  in  every  direction. 
There  are  provinces  in  China  which  are  cut  up  by  canals 
much  like  Holland.  There  are  vast  territories  where 
almost  every  man's  house  can  be  visited  by  boat,  and  as 
we  go  on  in  our  travels  we  shall  find  that  the  greater  part 
of  China  may  be  reached  by  navigable  streams  and  canals, 
and  that  these  form  the  highways  of  the  empire. 

CAKl".  ASIA  —  9 


136 


CHINA. 


Many  of  the  great  cities  are  built  upon  the  banks  of  the 
rivers,  and  there  are  vast  manufacturing  centers  every  few 
miles.  Each  city  is  different  from  the  others.  Some,  like 
Hankow,  far  in  the  interior  on  the  Yangtze  Kiang,  have 
dirty  paved  streets,  so  narrow  that  we  have  to  crowd 
against  the  walls  to  let  the  wheelbarrows  go  by.  Others, 
such  as  Nankin,  which  is  also  on  the  Yangtze,  but  nearer 


^^Wfy^J—^^^i        '^.£=r=k\ 


we  see  forests  of  masts - 


the  sea,  have  streets  as  wide  as  those  we  saw  in  Peking. 
In  Canton,  on  the  Pearl  River,  we  find  a  great  business 
city  containing  more  than  a  million  people,  and  in  Shang- 
hai, not  far  from  the  coast,  the  native  city  is  connected 
with  a  large  foreign  settlement  of  many  English,  French, 
and  German  homes. 

We  can  get  some  idea  of  the  trade  of  the  country  by  a 
look  at  its  shipping.  China  is  said  to  have  more  boats 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  world  put  together.     At  the  walled 


BOATS  AND  BOAT  TEOPLE. 


137 


cities  which  arc  built  here  and  there  upon  the  Yangtze 
River,  we  see  forests  of  masts  belonging  to  boats  of  all 
sizes,  descriptions,  and  shapes.  There  are  large  Chinese 
junks  with  wide-spreading  sails  ribbed  with  bamboo,  and 
there  are  small  fishing  boats,  the  sails  of  which  are  shaped 
like  the  wings  of  a  bat,  catching  every  breath  of  air  as 
they  dash  along.  There  are  barges  loaded  with  all  kinds 
of  merchandise,  and  little  canoes  sculled  by  men  standing 
up  in  their  sterns.      There  are  boats  shaped   just   like  a 


"  They  are  used  as  dispatch  boats 


slipper,  and  not  much  bigger  than  an  Indian  canoe.  They 
are  used  as  dispatch  boats  and  can  be  made  to  go  very 
fast.  We  find  boats  with  jiackllc  wheels  at  the  sides  turned 
by  men  who  labor  inside  them,  a  half-dozen  coolies  doing 
the  work  of  the  common  gas  engine.  There  are  boats 
owned  by  beggars  which  sail  through  the  canals  from 
one  town  to  another,  and  lie  at  anchor  while  their  owners 
go  on  shore  and  ask  alms  from  the  people.  And  there 
are  boats  filled  with  lepers,  whom  we  gladly  pav  well  to 
keep  out  of  our  way. 

The  Chinese  rivers   are  sometimes  infested  by  pirates 


138 


CHINA. 


A  Beggars'  Boat. 

who  attack  private  boats;  and  during  our  ride  up  the 
Yangtze  we  see  long  boats  and  ships  cut  in  halves  and 
placed  on  end  at  the  edge  of  a  village  or  city.  The 
owners  were  thieves  or  pirates,  and  the  boats  mark  the 
places  where  the  criminals  have  been  beheaded.  Their 
boats  have  been  cut  up  in  this  way  and  put  there  as 
warnings  to  others.  There  are  also  vessels  belonging  to 
the  river  police,  and  customs  boats  whose  sole  business 
it  is  to  collect  taxes  on  all  kinds  of  shipping  which  go 
up  the  rivers. 

Each  locality  in  China  has  boats  of  its  own  kind,  the 
only  thing  common  to  all  being  the  eyes  which  are  painted 
on  the  sides  of  the  prows.  The  Chinese  seem  to  think 
that  these  eyes   are  necessary  to  good   sailing,  and  that 


BOATS  AND  BOAT  PEOPLE.  1 39 

by  them  the  boats  see  their  way  through  the  waters.  The 
small  boats  have  small  eyes.  The  cargo  boats  have  bigger 
eyes,  and  on  some  of  the  ships  the  eyes  are  as  large  and 
as  round  as  a  soup  plate.  I  remember  that  once  during 
a  trip  on  the  Pei  Ho  I  happened  to  hang  my  feet  over 
one  of  the  eyes  of  the  boat,  and  the  captain  rushed  franti- 
cally to  me  and  begged  me  to  move.  He  said,  in  the 
peculiar  English  that  the  Chinese  use  in  their  talk  with 
foreigners : 

"  Boat  must  have  eye.  No  have  eye,  no  can  see ;  no 
can  see,  no  can  go." 

This  eye  superstition,  indeed,  is  held  to  such  an  extent 
that  when  the  Chinese  built  their  first  railroad  locomotive 
the  workmen  argued  that  it  ought  to  have  an  eye  painted 
on  each  side  of  the  smokestack,  in  order  to  see  its  way 
along  the  track. 

Most  of  the  Chinese  boats  carry  numerous  people,  and 
millions  of  Chinamen  are  born,  live,  and  die  upon  the 
water.  The  boats  are  the  homes  of  the  sailors.  On  the 
Pearl  River  in  south  China,  at  the  city  of  Canton,  there 
are  said  to  be  three  hundred  thousand  people  living  upon 
boats,  and  we  shall  find  many  families  whose  homes  are 
boats  not  more  than  twenty  feet  long.  On  some  of  the 
larger  boats  the  children  fairly  swarm,  and  we  shall  see 
little  ones  of  three  or  four  years  playing  about  their 
decks.  Many  of  the  boys  have  little  round  barrels, 
about  a  foot  long  and  six  inches  thick,  tied  to  their  backs. 
These  barrels  are  life  preservers ;  if  a  child  falls  over- 
board the  barrel  will  keep  him  afloat  until  his  mother  or 
father  can  pull  him  into  the  boat. 

We  are  surprised  to  see  that  the  little  girls  of  the  boat 
families  have,  in  many  cases,  no  barrels  upon  their  backs ; 
and  on  asking  the  reason  whv,  we  are  told  that  some  of 


I40 


CHINA. 


the  poorer  people  consider  it  a  piece  of  good  fortune  if 
their  girl  babies  are  drowned,  as  in  this  way  they  are 
saved  the  expense  of  bringing  them  up.  I  doubt  whether 
this  opinion  is  general,  however ;  though  nowhere  in  China 
are  girls  so  much  prized  as  boys.  This  is  especially  so 
among  the  boat  people.  I  once  visited  a  place  just  off 
the  river  at  Shanghai,  where  there  are  perhaps  five  hun- 


-at  the  city  of  Canton 


dred  Chinese  babies  being  brought  up  by  Christian  mis- 
sionaries. One  of  the  ladies  in  charge  told  me  that  she 
could  buy  girl  babies  for  from  one  cent  to  one  dollar  each, 
and  she  said  that  they  sometimes  bought  babies,  paying 
their  mothers  twenty  cents  apiece  for  them. 

Among  the  queer  boats  we  sec  on  the  Pearl  River  are 
those  devoted  to  the  raising  of  geese  and  ducks.  The 
Chinese  are,  perhaps,  the  best  fowl  raisers  of  the  world. 


BOxVrs   AND   BOAT   I'EOrLi;.  141 

They  hatch  thousands  of  goose  and  duck  eggs  by  keeping 
them  in  baskets  of  chaff  in  rooms  heated  with  charcoal  to 
a  temperature  equal  to  that  which  they  would  have  if  the 
fowls  were  sitting  upon  them.  When  the  little  goslings 
and  ducklings  come  out  of  their  shells,  they  are  penned 
up  for  five  days  in  places  where  they  will  not  be  disturbed 
by  noise.  They  are  fed  at  first  upon  rice  water.  After 
this  they  are  given  boiled  rice,  and  at  the  end  of  two 
weeks  they  are  taken  out  of  the  coop,  put  on  these  boats, 
and  made  to  shift  for  themselves. 

The  boats  are  very  clumsy  and  somewhat  like  rafts,  with 
cooplike  platforms  at  the  side,  in  which  the  fowls  stay,  a 
single  boat  often  holding  as  many  as  a  thousand  ducks. 
The  owner  of  the  boat  rows  it  up  and  down  the  creeks  till 
he  comes  to  a  low,  swampy  place.  He  then  opens  the 
fence  which  forms  one  side  of  the  coop,  a  board  is  thrown 
off  to  the  bank,  and  the  ducks  run  out  and  pick  up  the 
worms  and  snails  which  they  find  in  the  mud.  After  they 
have  fed  for  two  or  three  hours  the  duck  captain  makes 
a  peculiar  call  with  his  mouth,  and  the  ducks  are  so  trained 
that  they  obey  his  voice  and  return  to  the  boat.  Thev 
come  very  quickly,  too,  for  the  last  duck  ahvavs  gets  a 
blow  with  a  stick.  When  the  ducks  are  grown  up,  the 
captain  carries  them  for  sale  from  one  market  to  another 
in  his  boat.  There  arc  fowl  markets  in  all  of  the  cities, 
and  in  Canton  thousands  of  geese  and  ducks  are  sold 
every  day. 

In  our  travels  through  China  we  pass  manv  jilaces 
where  the  people  are  making  porcelain  and  pottery.  In 
some  parts  of  the  empire  there  is  a  smooth  white  clay 
which  is  used  for  fine  china.  The  word  china,  indeed, 
comes  from  the  beautiful  work  of  the  Chinese.  Accord- 
ing to  their  belief,  they  were  the  inventors  of  porcelain 


142  CHINA. 

ware,  and  their  histories  state  that  they  had  china  as  far 
back  as  seventeen  hundred  years  before  Christ.  There 
are  now  in  existence  beautiful  china  cups  and  vases  which 
it  is  known  were  made  centuries  ago. 

The  fine  clay  of  which  the  best  china  is  manufactured 
is  found  in  beds.  It  is  dug  out  with  pickaxes  and  carried 
by  men  on  their  backs  to  mills,  where  it  is  crushed  and  all 
the  stones  and  sand  are  washed  out  of  it.  After  this  the 
clay  is  worked  by  men  or  by  buffaloes  who  walk  through 
it,  mixing  it  with  their  feet ;  and  it  is  then  handed  over 
to  the  potter.  The  potter  molds  cups,  plates,  saucers, 
vases,  and  other  vessels  from  it  with  his  hands,  using 
the  potter's  wheel  to  aid  him. 

After  the  vessels  are  shaped  they  are  put  in  the  sun  to 
dry  and  harden.  Then  they  are  glazed  by  dipping  them 
into  a  mixture  of  varnish  and  water. 

The  next  process  is  firing  or  baking  the  china.  This  is 
done  in  ovens  which  use  wood  as  fuel.  After  an  oven  is 
filled  with  china,  its  doorway  is  closed  by  brickwork  in 
order  that  currents  of  air  may  not  affect  the  heat.  There 
is  only  a  moderate  fire  at  first,  but  this  is  gradually  increased 
until  the  pieces  of  china  come  to  a  white  heat.  The  fire 
is  kept  at  this  point  for  three  days,  after  which, time  the 
china  is  supposed  to  be  thoroughly  baked,  and  the  fire  is 
allowed  to  go  out. 

The  oven,  however,  is  not  opened  until  twenty-four 
hours  after  this,  for  fear  that  the  cold  air  rushing  in  upon 
the  white  china  might  make  it  crack.  The  oven  cools 
slowly,  and  even  a  day  after  the  fire  is  out  it  is  still  so  hot 
that  the  persons  who  remove  the  vessels  have  to  cover 
their  hands  with  thick  gloves,  and  their  heads  and  shoul- 
ders with  wet  blankets. 

As  soon  as  the  china  is  cooled  it  is  given  over  to  the 


FARMS   AND    FARMING,  I43 

painters.  Often  a  dozen  painters  will  work  on  one  piece 
before  it  is  finished.  One  artist  sketches  the  design, 
another  may  paint  the  trees  and  flowers,  a  third  may  do 
nothing  but  put  on  the  butterflies,  and  others  may  be 
specialists  at  painting  birds  or  human  figures  or  build- 
ings. After  the  china  has  been  decorated,  it  must  again 
be  fired  to  fix  the  colors.  This  is  done  in  circular  ovens, 
at  the  bottom  of  which  are  charcoal  fires. 


o>«<c 


XVII.     CHINESE   FARMS   AND    FARMING. 

IN  our  travels  through  interior  China  wc  find  the  farmers 
everywhere  at  work  irrigating  their  lands.  The  Chinese 
rivers  bring  down  from  the  mountains  vast  quantities  of 
fertilizing  materials.  The  waters  of  the  Yangtze  Kiang 
and  the  Hoang  Ho  arc  yellow  from  the  mud  which  they 
are  carrying  down  to  the  sea,  and  in  coming  to  China 
by  water  you  see  that  the  blue  Pacific  Ocean  has  been 
turned  by  these  rivers  to  a  light  brown  for  thirty  miles  on 
each  side  of  their  mouths.  The  water  of  the  Yangtze 
Kiang  is  almost  as  thick  as  pea  soup.  It  makes  the  soil 
over  which  it  is  spread  very  rich.  We  see  hundreds  of 
men  standing  in  pairs,  here  and  there  along  the  banks, 
scooping  the  thick  fluid  up  in  water-tight  baskets  to  which 
ropes  are  attached,  in  order  to  raise  it  to  a  higher  level 
and  allow  it  to  flow  over  the  fields. 

We  see  curious  irrigating  machines  worked  by  cattle 
and  by  men.  One  kind  has  a  rude  horizontal  wheel  which 
by  means  of  cogs  turns  a  smaller,  upright  wheel,  and 
with  it  a  sort  of  a  chain  pump.  As  the  wheels  turn,  the 
pump  raises  the  water  and  empties  it  into  a  trough,  from 


144 


CHINA. 


which  it  flows  out  over  the  fields.  A  water  buffalo  —  an 
odd  farm  animal  of  which  we  learn  more  farther  along 
in  this  chapter  —  drags  the  first  wheel  around,  and  thus 
forms  the  motive  power.  Other  machines  are  worked  by 
men  who  walk  up  the  outside  of  a  wheel-like  framework, 
stepping  always  upward  ;    their  weight  keeps  the  wheel 


'A  water  buffalo  drags  the  first  wheel  around     -  " 

moving,  and  thus  raises  the  water.  When  we  reflect  that 
there  are  not  only  hundreds,  but  tens  of  thousands  of  men 
and  animals  engaged  in  such  work,  we  see  that  a  great 
deal  of  irrigation  is  carried  on  in  China. 

The  Chinese  are  a  nation  of  farmers.  Their  farms  are 
everywhere  very  small,  few  being  more  than  two  acres  in 
size ;  but  they  are  so  well  tilled  that  one  acre,  it  is  esti- 
mated,  can   produce   enough   food   for  six  persons.     The 


FARMS   AND    FARMING. 


145 


farmers  save  everything  for  manure.  Potato  peelings,  the 
hair  cut  from  the  heads  of  the  family,  the  earth  from 
the  beds  of  canals,  and  the  remains  of  old  houses,  as  well 
as  all  other  kinds  of  fertilizing  material,  are  kept  for  the 
fields.  We  see  small  boys  and  girls  raking  up  straw  and 
pulling  up  stubble  for  use  as  manure  or  fuel. 

Almost   every   kind    of    farm    labor   is   done  by  hand. 
There   are   but   few  cattle,  though    in  central  and  south 


Sicppinj  always  upv,ArJ 

China  the  ugly  beasts  known  as  water  buffalo  are  to  be 
seen  everywhere.  These  animals  are  somewhat  like  cows. 
They  have  flat  horns  which  extend  almost  horizontally 
backward  from  just  over  the  eyes.  Their  bodies  are 
covered  with  a  thin  growth  of  black  hair  which  stands  out 
more  like  the  bristles  of  a  pig  than  the  short  hair  of  a  cow. 
They  are  used  for  heavy  work,  such  as  irrigating,  grind- 
ing meal,  tramping  out  grain  in  tiircshing,  and  plowing. 


146 


CHINA. 


"  —  grinding  meal  —  " 

The  plowing,  however,  is  also  done  with  other  animals, 
and  in  some  places  we  may  see  men  and  boys  hitched  to 
the  plow.  On  the  farms  of  north  China  donkeys  are 
sometimes  used  for  this  purpose.  In  a  field  near  Peking 
I  once  saw  a  man  and  a  donkey  pulling  away  side  by 
side,  the  sweat  rolling  down  the  man's  face  as  he  tried 
to  do  as  much  work  as  the  donkey. 

Sometimes  men  alone  pull  the  plows.  I  remember 
how  I  photographed  a  Chinese  father  who  was  plowing 
with  his  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  whom  he  had  harnessed 
up  like  horses.  He  was  pushing  hard  down  upon  the 
handles  of  the  plow,  and  the  children  were  straining  with 
all  their  might  to  pull  it  through  the  furrow.     When  the 


FARMS   AND    FARMING.  1 47 

man  saw  that  his  picture  was  being  taken,  he  became 
very  angry ;  for  many  of  the  Chinese  beheve  that  photog- 
raphy is  a  magic  art,  and  that  the  photographer  can,  by 
willing,  compel  the  per- 
son whose  picture  he 
has  taken  to  come  to 
him,  and  can  cause  him      |c'^*'^^-^''5^.-^^' -v  j      -    aS.^^****^ 

out    even    soing;    near        .  tr^.Q,.    v^?L-    *-i^ 


all  kinds  of  trouble  with-       "  "'^'"^^71-..^:^^^^""*^^ 


im.       1  his      plowman      .-^-■.  ^^r^^^i^u  ■,- >^:-.sS''>f***^ 


n 


w-' 


->f:^- 


,,.*cc:"J' 


clearly  believed  that  I 

...  .  .  " — harnessed  up  like  horses." 

was  dealmg  m    magic, 

and  he  tried  to  seize  my  camera  to  break  it.  I  jerked  it 
from  him  and  rushed  for  my  donkey.  He  followed,  but 
my  Chinese  servant  came  to  my  aid  and  held  him  until  I 
was  able  to  mount  and  make  my  escape. 

The  crops  raised  by  the  Chinese  are  of  every  kind  and 
description.  Much  rice  and  tobacco  are  grown  in  cen- 
tral and  south  China,  and  we  find  wheat,  barley,  and  other 
hardy  grains  in  the  north.  The  best  tea  comes  from 
south  of  the  Yangtze  Kiang.  In  the  city  of  Hankow, 
which  is  situated  011  the  Yangtze  about  seven  hundred 
miles  from  the  seacoast,  we  find  one  of  the  great  centers 
of  the  tea  trade. 

The  fastest  of  ocean  steamers  are  sent  by  the  great  tea 
importers  of  Europe  to  Hankow.  The  first  of  the  crop  is 
considered  the  best,  and  the  steamers  after  loading  run  a 
race  down  the  Yangtze,  and  through  the  Pacific,  the  Straits 
of  Malacca,  the  Indian  Ocean,  the  Suez  Canal,  and  the 
Mediterranean,  each  trying  to  reach  the  great  ports  of 
Europe  ahead  of  all  others.  The  ship  that  wins  the 
race  gets  the  highest  price  for  its  cargo,  as  the  new  tea 
is  greatly  desired. 


148 


CHINA. 


At  Hankow  we  find  vast  factories  in  which  Chinese 
girls  are  picking  over  tea.  Their  feet,  which  are  about  as 
big  as  your  fist,  are  half  covered  with  the  leaves  of  the 
second-grade  tea  which  they  have  thrown  into  the  baskets 
below  them.     They  are  rapidly  handling  the  leaves,  sort- 


"  -  picking  over  tea." 

ing  over  the  bits  of  tiny  green  on  the  tables  before  them. 
The  tea  is  fired  and  prepared  for  the  market  in  much  the 
same  manner  as  we  saw  in  Japan.  It  is  then  packed  in  lead- 
lined  boxes,  and  we  see  half-naked  coolies  pressing  it  down 
into  these  chests  with  their  bare  feet. 

Another  great  tea  center  is  the  city  of  Fuchau  (Foo-chow). 
Round  about  it  there  are  tea  districts  so  large  that  forty 


FARMS   AND   FARMING. 


149 


thousand  men  and  women  arc  employed  as  pack  animals 
to  carry  the  tea  to  the  city.  Their  wages  are  less  than  ten 
cents  a  day,  and  it  costs,  it  is  said,  about  two  cents  a  pound 
to  pick  the  tea. 

At  Hankow  much  brick  tea  is  made.  The  leaves  are 
ground  up  and  steamed  until  they  are  mushy  and  soft. 
They  are  then  put  into  molds  about  the  size  of  a  brick, 


It  is  then  packed 


and  are  pressed  into  shape.  When  they  come  out,  they 
are  as  hard  as  so  much  pressed  clay.  The  finer  varieties 
of  tea  are  molded  into  small  bricks  of  just  the  same  color, 
and  about  the  same  size,  as  the  little  cakes  of  sweet  choco- 
late which  are  sold  in  our  grocery  stores.  The  brick  tea  is 
packed  up  in  boxes  of  such  shapes  and  sizes  that  they  can 
be  carried  on  camels  into  Mongolia,  or  on  the  backs  of 
men  over  the  mountains  to  Tibet.      Brick  tea  is   used   in 


I50 


CHINA. 


these  countries  both  as  drink  and  food,  being  cooked  up 
with  fats,  as  we  shall  learn  in  Tibet,  into  a  kind  of  tea 
soup.  The  Mongols  often  use  such  tea  as  money,  each 
brick  being  worth  about  fifteen  cents. 

Almost  everywhere  we  go  in  south  China  we  shall  see 
men  and  women  reeling  and  weaving  silk.      At  Nankin 


"  -weaving  silk." 

we  visit  the  looms  where  the  satin  dresses  are  woven  for 
the  emperor.  The  machinery  is  very  rude.  Men  and 
women  twist  the  thread  with  their  hands,  in  the  open  air, 
and  the  looms  from  which  beautiful  silks  and  velvets  are 
turned  out  are  operated  altogether  by  hand. 
But  where  do  the  Chinese  get  the  silk  thread } 
It  comes  from  the  cocoons  of  the  silkworms,  which  feed 


FARMS   AND    !■  ARMING.  I5I 

on  the  leaves  of  the  mulberry  tree.  The  worm  spins  the 
cocoon  or  shell  of  silk  about  him,  and  after  a  time,  if  not 
killed  in  order  that  its  cocoon  may  be  used  for  silk,  it 
comes  out  a  moth.  There  are  large  districts  in  China  in 
which  silkworms  are  raised,  and  the  people  think  them 
so  important  that  even  the  ladies  of  the  emperor's  court 
have  silkworm  nurseries.  The  empress  herself,  as  a  good 
example  to  the  women  of  China,  on  a  certain  day  collects 
some  of  the  mulberry  leaves,  cutting  them  from  the  trees 
with  her  golden  scissors,  and  takes  them  in  to  feed  her 
silkworms. 

But  let  us  visit  some  of  the  silk-raising  districts.  We 
find  that  the  care  of  the  worms  is  by  no  means  an  easy 
task.  The  worms  come  from  eggs  which  are  laid  by  the 
female  silk  moths  upon  sheets  of  coarse  paper ;  a  single 
moth  often  lays  as  many  as  five  hundred. 

The  eggs  are  about  the  size  of  a  mustard  seed,  and  are 
of  a  pale  ash  color.  They  are  kept  in  a  clean,  cool  place 
until  the  time  comes  for  hatching,  when  they  are  put  into 
a  well-warmed  room,  the  paper  containing  the  eggs  being 
laid  on  mats  spread  over  shelves  of  bamboo  wood.  The 
temperature  of  the  room  is  tested,  not  by  a  thermometer, 
but  by  a  man  who  now  and  then  strips  off  his  clothes 
and  comes  in  naked,  l^y  the  feeling  of  the  air  upon  his 
skin  he  can  tell  whether  the  room  is  cold  or  damp,  and 
if  so  he  heats  it  with  stoves. 

The  eggs  hatch  within  a  very  few  days,  each  egg  pro- 
ducing a  little  black  worm  as  fine  as  a  hair.  Mulberry 
leaves  cut  up  into  very  small  pieces  are  now  fed  to  the 
worms.  For  the  first  few  days  they  get  such  food  every 
half  hour,  day  and  night.  As  they  grow  older  they  are 
fed  once  an  hour,  and  when  they  have  reached  their  full 
growth  they  eat  only  three  or  four  meals  a  day. 

CAKl".  AS1.\ 10 


152  CHINA. 

During  its  growth  the  worm  takes  a  sleep  every  four  or 
five  days,  and  about  the  twenty-second  day  it  has  its  last 
or  great  sleep.  At  this  time  it  lifts  up  the  fore  part  of  its 
body  and  rests  in  that  position.  During  each  sleep  it 
casts  its  skin,  continuing  the  sleep  until  a  new  and  larger 
skin  is  fully  matured. 

When  the  silkworm  has  reached  the  age  of  thirty-two 
days  it  is  full-grown.  It  is  now  the  color  of  amber,  and 
is  about  two  inches  long  and  about  as  large  round  as  a 
man's  little  finger.  It  is  at  last  ready  for  the  work  for 
which  it  was  created  '  It  takes  no  more  food,  and  begins 
to  spin  the  silk  from  its  mouth,  fastening  the  fine  thread 
to  a  frame  upon  which  it  has  been  placed.  It  moves  its 
head  from  one  side  to  the  other  as  it  spins,  continuing  the 
operation  until  its  whole  body  has  been  enveloped  in  a 
cocoon. 

The  spinning  requires  from  two  to  five  days,  and  when 
it  has  finished  its  little  silk  house  the  worm  again  falls 
asleep.  The  boards  upon  which  it  lies  with  its  sister 
cocoons  are  now  carried  to  a  slow  fire  of  charcoal  or  wood, 
and  the  sleeping  worms  are  destroyed  by  the  heat.  After 
this  the  cocoons  are  put  into  boiling  water,  and  women 
and  girls  unwind  the  silk.  The  fine  threads  are  reeled 
and  twisted  together  until  they  become  large  enough  for 
weaving  the  beautiful  silks  and  satins  which  are  used  by 
the  Chinese,  and  some  of  which  are  sent  to  America. 

In  our  travels  through  China  we  also  pass  many  thickets 
of  bamboo.  We  see  plantations  in  which  the  bamboo  is 
cultivated,  and  we  learn  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able plants  known  to  man.  In  some  Chinese  cities  there 
are  whole  streets  where  there  is  scarcely  anything  but 
bamboo  sold,  and  during  our  tour  through  the  southern 
Asiatic  countries  we  shall  see  it  in  use  everywhere. 


FARMS   AND    FARMING. 


153 


The  bamboo  is  a  treelike  plant,  which  in  China,  Japan, 
and  India  often  grows  to  the  height  of  from  forty  to 
eighty  feet.  It  has  a  hollow  stem  with  joints  at  regular 
intervals  upon  it.  You  have  seen  cane  fishing  rods.  The 
best  of  these  are  of  bamboo  cane.  Now,  if  you  will 
imagine  fishing  rods  of  all  sizes  and  lengths,  from  some 
as  thick  as  your  little  finger  to  others  that  are  as  large 
around  as  your  leg,  and 
as  tall  as  a  six-story 
house,  you  can  get  some 
idea  of  the  bamboo 
plants  of  south  Asia. 
These  plants  have  long, 
feathery  leaves.  Their 
stems  are  green,  and 
they  do  not,  as  a  rule, 
turn  yellow  until  they 
are  cut  or  have  become 
dead. 

The  bamboo  is  used 
for  many  things.  Its 
roots,  and  the  shoots 
which  come  up  in  the 
spring,  are  cooked  and 
served  somewhat  like 
asparagus,  and  the  seeds  are  ground  up  and  used  for  food. 
The  roofs  and  walls  of  the  houses  in  many  parts  of  China 
are  made  of  bamboo,  and  there  is  scarcely  an  article  of 
Chinese  furniture  of  which  this  wood  is  not  a  part.  It 
is  used  for  making  chairs  and  beds.  Its  splints  are  woven 
up  into  mats  and  baskets.  The  most  of  the  umbrellas  in 
Japan  and  China  have  bamboo  handles  and  ribs,  the 
framework  being  covered  with  oiled  paper;  and  our  paper 


—  we  also  pass  many  thickets  cf  b-ir 


154 


CHINA. 


lanterns  which  come  from   Japan   are  kept  in  shape  by 
the  little  ribs  of  bamboo  splints  which  run  around  them. 

The  Chinese  make  hats  of  bamboo,  splitting  up  the 
wood,  weaving  it  together,  and  covering  it  with  paper. 
The  blind  beggar's  stick  is  a  bamboo  cane.  The  washer 
woman's  clothesline  is  a  long  bamboo  pole,  which,  raised 
upon  supports,  holds  the  newly  washed  garments  high 
from  the  ground.  Many  of  the  pens  and  brushes  used  in 
China  are  of  bamboo,  and  some  of  the  paper  upon  which 
the  Chinese  write  is  made  of  bamboo  wood  which  has 
been  soaked  and  reduced  to  a  pulp. 


XVIII.     CURIOUS   CHINESE   CUSTOMS. 

IN  this,  our  last  day  among  the  Chinese,  let  us  consider 
some  of  the  things  in  which  they  differ  from  us.  We 
call  them  heathen.  They  look  upon  us  as  little  better  than 
savages.  They  think  we  are  very  impolite,  and  pity  us 
because  we  do  not  dress,  act,  and  live  as  they  do. 

When  two  Americans 

meet  they  clasp  hands. 

When       two       Chinese 

friends    come    together 

they  shake  their  own  fists 

at  each  other,  and  if  they 

are   going  in  the  same 

direction  they  walk  off 

in  single  file  like  geese. 

^°"^  ^^"s-  We  cut  our  finger  nails 

short.     The  Chinese  let  theirs  grow  long,  and  long  nails 

are  with  them  the  sign  of  a  lady  or  gentleman.     All  those 

who  do  not  work  with  their  hands  are  proud  of  their  nails, 


CURIOUS  CUSTOMS. 


155 


and  the  scholars,  officials,  doctors,  and  other  professional 
men  often  have  nails  from  one  to  six  inches  long.  Ladies 
sometimes  have  silver  shields  which  they  put  over  their 
nails  to  prevent  them 
from  breaking.  I  met  a 
Chinese  merchant  in 
Canton  who  could  rest 
the  palm  of  his  hand  up- 
on his  chin  and  scratch 
the  back  of  his  neck 
with  his  nails. 

The  Chinese  do  not 
kiss.  They  seldom  em- 
brace, and  in  bowing  to 
one  another  they  bend 
down  almost  to  the 
ground.  We  take  our 
hats  off  when  we  enter 
a  house.  The  Chinese 
gentleman  keeps  his  hat 
on.  We  ask  first  after 
the  wives  and  daughters 
of  our  friends.  The  Chi- 
nese would  consider  such 
questions  an  insult,  and 
the  girls  of  the  family 
remain  out  of  the  room  when 
fathers  or  brothers. 

The  Chinese  girls  are  not  courted.  Marriages  are  made 
by  parents  through  professional  matchmakers,  and  a  hus- 
band seldom  sees  his  wife  until  he  is  wedded.  The  wife 
is  the  slave  of  her  mother-in-law,  who  has  the  right  to 
whip  her  if  she  does  not  obey. 


A  Chinaman  in  Full  Dress. 


Lrentlenien   call    on   their 


156 


CHINA. 


In  China  the  men  wear  the  finest  embroidery,  and  the 
high  officials  have  their  hats  decorated  with  feathers  and 
wear  strings  of  beads  around  their  necks.  The  men  often 
wear  bracelets,  and  gentlemen  are  fond  of  long  stockings, 
while  their  wives  go  about  in  short  socks.  The  Chinese 
women  often  wear  pantaloons,  above  which  there  is  a  sack 
coming  halfway  down  to  the  knees.  The  men  in  full  dress 
wear  gowns  which  reach  from  their  necks  to  their  feet. 


"The  Chinese  women  are  proud  of  small  feet  —  " 

Some  of  our  women  have  the  bad  habit  of  squeezing 
their  waists  by  lacing,  and  some  Americans  consider  a 
small  waist  a  mark  of  beauty.  The  Chinese  women  are 
proud  of  small  feet,  and  they  bind  the  heel  down  into  the 
foot  by  tying  the  four  small  toes  under  it,  so  that  their 
feet  are  much  like  the  ends  of  clubs.     The  binding  often 


Chinese  Women. 


CURIOUS  CUSTOMS.  I  57 

begins  when  the  girls  arc  three  years  of  age.  The  band- 
ages are  kept  on  from  that  time  until  death,  except  when 
they  are  removed  for  washing  the  feet.  The  compression 
causes  terrible  pain,  and  the  bandage  is  sometimes  so 
tight  that  the  foot  breaks  in  two  at  the  instep,  the  bones 
coming  through  the  flesh. 

We  wear  black  when  we  go  into  mourning.  The 
Chinese  at  such  times  wear  white ;  and  they  send  out 
mourning  cards  which  are  printed  on  white  paper,  though 
ordinarily  the  color  of  their  visiting  cards  is  the  brightest 
red.  After  the  time  of  mourning  has  half  passed  away 
they  send  out  other  cards,  upon  which  is  printed  "  Grief 
is  not  so  bitter  as  before."  They  put  on  a  garb  of  light 
blue  for  half  mourning,  and  when  the  days  of  their 
mourning  are  ended  they  give  a  feast  to  their  friends. 

The  Chinese  army  officials  wear  buttons  on  their  caps, 
instead  of  epaulets  on  their  shoulders,  to  indicate  their 
rank.  The  Chinese  begin  their  books  at  the  back  instead 
of  the  front ;  and  in  dating  their  letters  they  put  the  year 
first,  then  the  month,  and  then  the  day. 

They  have  many  queer  kinds  of  food.  They  boil  their 
bread  instead  of  baking  it,  and  in  north  China  we  meet 
many  cook  peddlers  who  are  selling  boiled  biscuits.  The 
Chinese  are  fond  of  an  expensive  soup  made  of  birds' 
nests.  They  eat  eggs,  but  never  serve  them  soft-boiled. 
They  pickle  their  eggs  in  lime,  and  the  older  such  eggs 
are,  the  better  they  like  them.  They  never  drink  cold 
water,  and  their  wine  is  served  boiling  hot. 

The  Chinese  have  theaters,  but  the  performances  are 
carried  on  during  the  daytime  ;  and  instead  of  lemonade 
and  peanuts,  they  have  themselves  served  with  watermelon 
and  pumpkin  seeds,  at  which  they  nibble  while  the  acting 
eroes  on. 


158 


CHINA. 


They  seldom  wash  the  whole  body,  and  it  is  said  that 
many  Chinamen  receive  only  two  baths  while  on  earth, 
one  at  birth  and  the  other  when  prepared  for  the  cofifin. 
They  do  not  wash  their  hands  before  dinner,  but  a  servant 

brings  a  hot,  wet  cloth 
to  the  guests  at  the 
table,  and  they  rub  off 
their  hands  and  faces 
with  this,  passing  it 
from  one  to  jyiother. 
"-are  usually  of  cloth."  ^^^  Chinese  Cat  from 

tables  as  we  do,  but  they  use  chopsticks  and  not  forks  to 
convey  the  food  to  their  mouths.  The  food  is  served  in 
small  porcelain  bowls,  the  meats  being  cut  into  little  cubes, 
and  the  tea  is  served  in  cups  with  the  saucers  on  top. 
A  Chinese  gentleman's  shoes  are  usually 
of  cloth.  Ours  are  of  leather,  and  we 
black  them  all  over;  but  he  whitens  only 
the  sides  of  the  soles. 

The  Chinese  baby  has  no  cradle.  The 
little  one  is  strapped  to  the  back  of  its 
mother,  or  that  of  a  servant,  and  if  the 
mother  is  a  working  woman  she  goes 
about  her  business  with  the  baby  tied  to 
her  back.  When  the  baby  begins  to 
walk  it  is  given  a  pair  of  knit  shoes 
with  a  cat's  face  on  the  toes,  this  being 
supposed  to  render  it  as  sure-footed  as 
a  cat.  The  Chinese  boys  fly  kites,  but 
the  best  kites  in  China  are  owned  by  grown-up  men,  who 
enjoy  them  as  much  as  the  boys  do. 

The  Chinese  are  great  gamblers.  Cockfighting  and 
quailfighting  are  common,  and  in  some  of  the  cities  we 


-tied  to  her  back.' 


CURIOUS  CUSTOMS. 


159 


see  men  kneeling  down  on  the  streets  about  little  bowls 
in  which  fighting  crickets  are  placed.  The  little  insects  are 
urged  on  to  fight  by  being  tickled  with  straws,  and  they 
fight  until  they  are  dead.  A  good  fighting  cricket  is  valua- 
ble, high  bets  being  made  upon  the  results  of  such  contests. 

One  of  the  most  striking  features  of  China  noticed  dur- 
ing our  tour  is  the  terrible  poverty  of  the  lower  classes  of 
the  people.  The  beggars 
exist  everywhere  in  large 
numbers.  Children  are 
sometimes  stolen  and 
made  blind  in  order  that 
they  may  beg  more  suc- 
cessfully. The  beggars 
of  each  city  have  unions 
or  clubs,  to  which  they 
all  belong.  They  divide 
the  city  into  sections, 
each  member  having  his 
own  street  or  block. 

These  beggars  will  un- 
dergo any  pain  in  order 
to  excite  pity.  I  saw  at 
Shanghai  a  half-naked 
man,  whose  clothes  con- 
sisted of  a  strij)  of  coffee  sacking  wrapped  about  his  hips. 
He  sat  on  the  stones  with  the  two  raw  stumps  of  his  legs 
stretched  out  before  him  ;  and  his  feet,  which  he  had  cut 
off  to  e.xcite  ])ity,  were  lying  by  his  side.  There  is  a  Peking 
priest  who  goes  about  begging  with  an  iron  skewer  thrust 
through  his  cheek.  He  twists  this  now  and  then  so  as  to 
keep  the  hole  ragged  and  sore,  and  he  pounds  upon  a  gong 
as  he  pushes  his  bloody  face  into  yours  and  asks  for  alms. 


thrust  through  his  cheek." 


l6o  CHINA. 

The  Chinese  can  live  more  cheaply,  perhaps,  than  any 
other  people  of  the  world,  and  we  are  surprised  at  the 
saving  which  we  see  everywhere.  Nothing  goes  to  waste. 
The  straw  and  the  weeds,  and  even  the  leaves  of  the  trees, 
are  gathered  for  fuel.  Clothing,  rather  than  fire,  is  used 
to  keep  out  the  cold ;  and  fuel  costs  so  much  that  the 
poor  man  never  builds  a  fire  if  he  can  help  it.  A  large 
part  of  his  diet  is  rice,  which  is  cooked  in  quantities  and 
rewarmed  for  breakfast  by  pouring  hot  water  over  it. 
The  hot  water  used  at  such  times  and  for  tea  is  often 
bought  from  hot-water  peddlers.  You  can  get  a  bucket 
of  water  for  one  tenth  of  a  cent,  and  in  Shanghai  there 
is  one  hot-water  store  for  every  twenty  families. 

At  the  restaurants  the  tea  grounds  are  all  saved,  and 
nothing  about  the  cookshops  goes  to  waste.  Even  the 
water  in  which  potatoes  and  other  vegetables  are  boiled 
is  saved  and  sold  for  feeding  hogs,  and  the  bones  are  cut 
from  meat  before  it  is  sold,  in  order  that  they  may  be  used 
for  the  making  of  chopsticks. 

There  are  public  cookshops  and  soup  houses  kept  by 
charity  in  some  Chinese  cities  during  the  winter,  but  as 
soon  as  spring  comes  these  are  shut  up,  and  the  poor,  as 
we  say  of  the  horses,  are  turned  out  to  grass ;  for  they 
have  to  live  on  the  weeds  and  the  greens.  The  necessi- 
ties of  the  Chinese  are,  in  fact,  so  few  that  a  poor  man  can 
buy  enough  food  to  keep  him  alive  for  two  cents  a  day, 
and  upon  four  dollars  a  month  a  man  can  support  a  family 
and  put  something  away  for  his  funeral. 

There  is  no  land  in  the  world  where  labor  is  so  well 
organized  as  in  China.  The  workmen  and  the  government 
have  been  anxious  to  keep  new  inventions  out  of  the  coun- 
try. The  Chinese  officials  are  afraid  to  introduce  railroads 
rapidly  for  fear  of  the  anger  of  the  wheelbarrow  pushers, 


CURIOUS  CUSTOMS. 


i6i 


cart  drivers,  and  boatmen.  The  opposition  of  these  men 
is  so  great  that  in  1896  China  had  only  one  railroad, 
about  two  hundred  miles  long. 

We  find,  however,  that  the  Chinese  are  skillful  in  han- 
dling machinery.  They  have  lately  established  large  gun 
works  for  constructing  all  kinds  of  cannon,  and  are 
making  Winchester  rifles  as  good  as  our  own.  They  are 
building  their  own  railroad  cars,  and  I  saw  a  locomotive 
made  in  their  gun  works  at  Shanghai  which  was  as  good 
as  those  used  in  our  country.  They  will  in  the  future 
probably  build  more  railroads.  They  may  become  one 
of  the  greatest  manufacturing  nations  of  the  world,  and, 
with  their  cheap  labor,  may  at  some  time  make  all  kinds 
of  ffoods  for  the  world's  markets. 


Chinese  Boys. 


l62 


SIAM. 


XIX.     SIAM    AND   THE   SIAMESE. 

AT  Hongkong  we  take  a  steamship  that  will  carry  us  to 
Bangkok,  the  capital  of  Siam.  Hongkong  is  a  little, 
mountainous  island  lying  off  the  southern  coast  of  China 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Pearl  River.  It  belongs  to  Great 
Britain,  having  been  given  up  by  the  Chinese  to  the  Brit- 
ish in  1 84 1,  just  after  a  great  war  which  occurred  at  that 
time  between   the   two    nations.     Hongkong   is   so   near 


A  Chinese  Passenger  Chair  in  Hongkong. 

China  that  you  could  row  in  a  small  boat  in  ten  minutes 
from  one  point  on  its  coast  to  the  mainland.  You  could 
walk  from  one  end  of  the  island  of  Hongkong  to  the  other 
in  half  a  day,  for  it  is  only  about  eleven  miles  long.  Its 
width  ranges  from  two  to  three  miles,  and  it  is  almost 
entirely  made  up  of  rocks. 

You  would  not  think  such  an  island  worth  having,  but 
it  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  valuable  pieces  of  land  in  the 
world.  Its  bare,  bleak  hills,  which  are  from,  two  to  four 
thousand  feet  high,  surround  a  beautiful  harbor  which  is 
visited  every  year  by  more  than  sixty  thousand  ships  and 


LAND   AND   PEOPLE. 


163 


junks,  making  Hongkong  one  of  the  great  ports  of  the 
world.  We  find  at  the  wharves  ships  from  India,  Aus- 
tralia, Siam,  and  Java,  and  from  all  parts  of  Europe. 
Many  steamers  which  cross  the  Pacific  from  America  also 
end  their  voyages  here. 

The  city  of  Hongkong  is  known  as  Victoria.  It  lies  on 
the  banks  of  this  wonderful  harbor,  its  houses  covering  the 
sides  of  hills  so  steep  that,  in  going  from  one  part  of  the 
city  to  another,  we  are  carried  up  in  chairs  swung  between 
poles  which  rest  on  the  shoulders  of  half-naked  Chinamen. 

We  find  thousands  of  Chinese  doing  business  in  Victoria. 
There  are  about  two  hundred  thousand  of  them  in  the  city, 
though  it  is  governed  by  officers  sent  out 
from  Great  Britain.  We  see  red-coated 
British  soldiers  everywhere.  The  police- 
men arc  tall,  black-faced,  black-bearded 
East  Indians  who  wear  turbans  of  the 
brightest  red,  and  who  dress  in  long  coats 
and  pantaloons.  These  men  are  Sikhs 
from  the  British  army  in  India. 

In  sailing  from  Hongkong  to  Bangkok, 
we  skirt  the  eastern  coast  of  the  great 
peninsula  known  as  Indo-China  or  Far- 
ther India  (see  map  on  p.  202).  Indo- 
China  has  an  area  about  one  fourth  that 
of  the  United  States.  It  has  much  good 
soil.  Its  mountains  contain  mines  of 
gold,  silver,  iron,  and  tin,  and  in  its  west- 
ern part,  in  Burma,  are  found  some  of 
the  most  beautiful  rubies  of  the  world. 
Indo-China,  however,  is  to  a  large  ex- 
tent a  tropical  jungle,  in  which  wild  ele- 
phants   and    tigers    roam,    and   through  sikh  soidier. 


1 64  SI  AM. 

which  crawl  many  kinds  of  venomous  snakes.  The  coun- 
try is  inhabited  by  curious  peoples,  and  we  find  that  it  is 
naturally  divided  into  four  great  sections. 

The  eastern  provinces  are  controlled  almost  altogether  by 
the  French,  and  are  taken  up  by  the  Tonquinese,  Anamese, 
and  Cambodians.  These  people  have  all  the  vices  of  the 
Chinese,  without  their  ability  or  industry.  They  have  very 
little  civilization,  and  as  they  import  and  export  but  little  they 
are  not  of  m-uch  importance  among  the  peoples  of  Asia. 

The  western  part  of  Farther  India  is  made  up  of  the 
country  of  Burma,  which  is  now  governed  by  Great  Britain  ; 
the  w'edge  of  land  lying  between  this  and  the  possessions 
of  France  is  the  independent  kingdom  of  Siam ;  and  on  the 
great  prong  on  the  southwestern  end  of  the  peninsula,  and 
in  the  islands  about  it,  live  the  Malays,  who  are  a  most 
curious  people,  with  many  odd  customs. 

We  shall  first  visit  Siam.  It  contains  about  five  million 
inhabitants,  and  its  area  is  a  little  greater  than  that  of 
Spain.  It  has  many  rivers,  and  much  of  it  is  cut  up  by 
canals.  It  has  rainy  seasons,  during  which  the  streams 
overflow  and  almost  the  whole  country  becomes  one  vast 
lake.  At  such  times  the  people  move  from  village  to 
village  and  from  city  to  city  in  boats.  The  houses  upon 
the  land  are  built  upon  high  posts  to  be  out  of  the  way 
of  the  water  at  the  time  of  the  floods,  and  to  be  somewhat 
protected  from  tigers  and  snakes.  A  large  part  of  the 
people,  however,  live  upon  the  water.  The  rivers  and 
canals  contain  hundreds  of  thousands  of  floating  houses. 
Bangkok,  the  capital,  is  a  city  of  seven  hundred  thousand 
people,  and  it  has  been  estimated  that  six  hundred  thou- 
sand of  these  live  upon  the  water. 

Bangkok  lies  upon  the  river  Menam,  about  forty  miles 
from  the  Gulf  of  Siam,  and  its  floating  houses  extend  for  a 


LAND  AND   PEOPLE. 


165 


distance  of  perhaps  more  than  ten  miles  up  and  down  the 
banks  of  the  stream.  Upon  the  land  are  the  palaces  of 
the  king  surrounded  by  walls  somewhat  like  those  we  saw 
in  China,  the  gorgeous  temples  of  the  Buddhist  religion, 
of  which  we  shall  learn  in  the  next  chapter,  and  a  number 
of  stores  and  dwellino^s. 


"—upon  high  posts  —  " 

As  we  sail  up  the  Menam  in  our  steamer  from  Hongkong, 
we  see  many  floating  houses.  The  river  is  wide,  and  its 
banks  are  lined  with  a  jungle  or  luxuriant  growth  of  tropi- 
cal plants  and  trees,  in  which  birds  of  gay  plumage  sing, 
and  out  of  which  monkeys  look  at  us  and  chatter  as  we  go 
by.  Here  and  there  a  canal  goes  off  into  the  jungle,  the 
houses  floating  upon  it  making  it  look  like  a  street. 

What  queer  dwellings  these  floating  houses  are !     Let 


i66 


SIAM. 


US  take  a  look  at  them  as  we  move  among  them  in  Bangkok. 
They  are  built  upon  rafts  from  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  square. 
The  rafts  are  fastened  to  piles,  and  they  move  up  and  down 
with  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide,  which  is  quite  great  even 
at  this  distance  from  the  Gulf  of  Siam.  Each  house  has  a 
steep  ridged  roof,  and  in  some  cases  there  are  two  ridges, 
the  end  of  the  roof  looking  like  an  inverted  W.  Many  of 
these  houses  have  little  verandas  in  front  of  them.     All 


"They  are  built  upon  rafts  —  " 

are  of  only  one  story,  and  very  few  of  them  have  more  than 
three  rooms. 

We  can  see  into  the  houses  through  the  open  doors. 
There  is  hardly  any  furniture.  The  people  squat  on  the 
floor  on  their  heels.  We  look  in  vain  for  sofas  or  beds. 
The  Siamese  sleep  on  the  floor,  and  as  for  pillows,  these 
are  merely  wooden  blocks  or  bundles  of  stuffed  cotton 
about  as  large  as  a  brick  and  almost  as  hard.  The  cook- 
ing is  done  on  little  fires  of  charcoal  which  burn  in  boxes 


LAND   AND   PEOPLE.  1 67 

filled  with  ashes.  There  are  no  stoves,  and  the  houses 
have  no  chimneys.  The  windows  are  merely  open  holes, 
and  there  is  not  a  pane  of  window  glass,  I  venture,  in  this 
great  floating  city. 

Some  houses,  we  are  told,  pay  rent  for  their  places  on 
the  river,  but  if  the  owners  become  dissatisfied  they  do 
not  need  to  call  in  carts  or  drays  in  order  to  move.  They 
merely  untie  their  houses  from  the  posts  to  which  they 
are  fastened,  and  by  means  of  boats  tow  them  off  to  other 
locations. 

Some  of  the  floating  houses  contain  little  stores,  and  the 
people  go  shopping  in  boats.  Every  house  has  a  boat, 
and  many  children  have  canoes  of  their  own.  We  see  little 
naked  boys  rowing  boats  not  more  than  two  feet  in  width 
and  so  long  that  the  least  loss  of  balance  would  turn  them 
out  into  the  water. 

The  river  is  filled  with  boats  of  all  kinds.  The  most  of 
them  are  managed  by  women  ;  and  as  we  go  on  we  find 
that  the  women  of  Bangkok  do  more  than  their  share  of 
the  work,  and  that  the  men  loaf,  smoke,  and  gossip,  while 
their  wives  earn  the  money  required  for  the  family.  There 
are  hundreds  of  peddlers'  boats  rowed  by  girls  who  move 
along  from  one  house  to  another  with  vegetables  or  trin- 
kets for  sale.  There  are  great  freight  boats  rowed  and 
sculled  by  half-naked  women  who  stand  up  as  they  push 
the  oars  to  and  fro.  There  are  boats  worked  by  wrinkled 
old  women  of  si.xty,  and  boats  filled  with  crews  of  women 
and  men  carrying  merchandise  through  the  citv.  The 
whole  river  is  alive  with  boats,  which  dart  this  way  and 
that,  moving  in  and  out  among  the  houses. 

What  an  odd  city  it  is,  and  how  queer  are  the  people ! 
The  Siamese  are  of  the  Mongolian  race.  Thcv  have  yel- 
low skins.     Their  eyes  are  slanting,  much  like  those  of 

CARP.  .\SIA  —  II 


i68 


SIAM. 


the  people  of  Japan  and  China.  They  have  thick  lips, 
and  their  noses  are  almost  as  flat  as  those  of  a  negro. 
Their  hair  is  jet  black,  but  we  see  many  old  Siamese 
whose  heads  have  become  as  white  as  snow.  Both  men 
and  women  wear  their  hair  short  all  over  their  heads,  and 
it  stands  straight  up  like  the  bristles  of  a  shoe  brush. 

What  queer  clothes  they  wear !  Some  of  them  Qre 
half  naked.  Many  Siamese  boys  and  girls  under  ten  years 
of  age  wear  nothing  at  all  but  a  piece  of  twine  about  the 
waist.  To  this  string  small  charms  are  fastened  to  keep 
off  the  witches  and  spirits.  Even  the  children  of  very 
rich  people  wear  no  clothing  at  times,  for  at  a  great  cele- 
bration I  once  saw  a  little  Siamese  prince  strutting  about 
with  nothing  on  him  but  a  belt  of  woven  silver  an  inch 
wide  bound  round  his  waist,  and  anklets  of  gold  on  his 
legs  and  rings  on  his  fingers. 

The  men  of  the  poorer  classes  wear 
little  more  than  a  strip  of  cotton  cloth 
a  yard  wide  and  two  yards  in  length. 
This  they  wind  tightly  around  the  body 
just  above  the  hips,  twisting  one  end 
through  between  the  legs  and  tucking 
it  in  at  the  waist.  Some  have  another 
strip  of  cloth  which  they  throw  over 
their  shoulders,  and  the  richer  men  wear 
jackets  of  cotton  or  silk  in  addition  to  the 
garment  which  thus  takes  the  place  of 
our  pantaloons. 
The  women  clothe  the  lower  part  of  the  body  in  much 
the  same  way  as  the  men.  They  sometimes  wrap  a  wide 
band  of  cloth  about  them  under  the  armpits,  and  fasten 
it  in  a  knot  just  over  the  chest ;  but  the  poorer  classes  of 
women  arc  often  bare  to  the  waist.     The  babies  we  see 


>i'~^0%'€ 


Siamese  Man. 


LAND    AND    PEOPLE. 


169 


on  the  verandas  of  the  houses  wear  little  more  than  the 
yellow  powder  which  their  mothers  have  dusted  over  their 
bare  skins  to  keep  off  the  flies  and  mosquitoes. 

There  is  a  family  at  dinner. 

They  squat  on  their  heels  on  the  floor  about  a  little  table 
not  more  than  a  foot  high.  Their  meal  consists  of  pickles 
and  rice,  and  the  rice 
is  brought  to  the  din- 
ner in  the  kettle  in 
which  it  was  cooked. 
All  eat  with  their  fin- 
gers. Each  sticks  his 
own  hand  into  the  ket- 
tle, and  takes  out  all 
he  can  hold,  rolling  the 
mass  into  a  hard  ball 
with  his  fingers,  and 
then  cramming  it  into 
his  mouth.  The  men 
and  boys  are  always  served  first,  and  the  women  take 
what  is  left. 

All  classes  seem  to  have  plenty  to  eat.  The  wants  of 
the  people  are  few,  and  fruits,  vegetables,  rice,  and  fish 
are  the  chief  foods  of  the  country.  The  use  of  meat  is 
contrary  to  the  principles  of  the  Buddhist  religion.  The 
Siamese  believe  that  the  souls  of  men  after  death  go  into 
the  bodies  of  animals,  and  hence  they  do  not  eat  flesh. 

We  are  disgusted  with  even  the  prettiest  of  the  Siamese 
girls  when  they  open  their  mouths,  for  their  tongues  and 
teeth  are  as  black  as  your  boots,  and  not  a  few  have 
mouths  filled  with  what  seems  to  be  blood.  We  see  that 
all  men  when  not  eating  are  chewing,  and  that  some  now 
and  then  spit  out  great  quantities  of  blood-red  saliva.     We 


170  SI  AM. 

find  that  this  comes  from  the  chewing  of  the  betel  nut,  a 
custom  which  is  common  throughout  Farther  India,  and 
which  is  universal  among  all  classes  of  people  in  Siam. 
The  Siamese  have  a  proverb  which  states  that  any  dog 
can  have  white  teeth,  but  only  those  who  can  afford  to 
chew  the  betel  nut  can  have  beautiful  black  ones. 

The  betel  nut  grows  on  a  kind  of  palm  tree.  It  is 
about  the  size  of  an  American  black  walnut.  It  has  a 
green  skin,  is  of  a  soft,  spongy  nature,  and  has  a  bitter 
taste.  Its  use  has  much  the  same  effect  as  tobacco  upon 
those  who  chew  it,  taking  away  hunger  and  stimulating 
the  nerves.  A  Siamese  cuts  off  a  piece  of  this  nut,  and 
adds  to  it  a  pinch  of  red  lime  and  a  bit  of  tobacco.  He 
puts  this  mixture  into  his  mouth,  and  chews  and  chews. 
The  betel  juice  and  the  lime  color  the  teeth  black. 

Betel  chewing  is  a  vile,  filthy  habit,  and  it  has  changed 
the  Siamese  from  a  handsome  people  into  a  most  ugly 
one.  Babies  are  given  betel  nuts  to  chew  before  they  are 
able  to  talk,  and  old  women  have  betel  nuts  pounded  up 
in  order  that  they  may  roll  them  about  over  their  tongues 
between  their  toothless  gums.  Nearly  every  person  in 
Siam  carries  a  box  containing  betel  nuts  with  him.  Smok- 
ing is  as  common  as  betel  chewing,  and  all  Siamese  — 
men,  women,  and  children  —  smoke  cigars  and  cigarettes. 

XX.     THE   KING   OF    SIAM   AND    HIS    ROYAL 
WHITE  ELEPHANTS. 

THE   King  of  Siam   is  the   absolute  ruler  of  the  five 
million   people  who  make  up  the    Siamese    nation. 
The  country  and  the  people  are   supposed  to  belong  to 


THE   KING  AND    HIS   ELEPHANTS.  I7I 

him.  His  subjects  are  required  by  law  to  work  for  him 
during  a  part  of  each  year.  He  can  throw  any  man  into 
chains  or  put  him  to  death;  he  can  deprive  him  of  his 
property,  or  have  his  daughter  sent  to  the  palace  as  one 
of  the  royal  wives. 

The  king  has  immense  palaces  built  on  the  banks  of 
the  Menam  River  in  Bangkok.  These  buildings  cover 
many  acres,  and  the  walls  about  them  are  several  miles 
long.  Inside  the  walls  there  is  a  little  city  laid  out  in 
streets.  Many  of  the  buildings  are  of  foreign  style. 
Some  of  them  are  never  entered  by  any  man  except 
the  king.  These  are  the  quarters  devoted  to  the  king's 
wives,  of  whom  his  majesty,  it  is  said,  has  several  hundred. 
At  the  head  of  them  is  a  queen,  who  by  law  is  the  king's 
half-sister.  All  the  ladies  of  the  palace  have  short  hair, 
like  the  other  women  of  their  nation.  Many  of  them 
have  foreign  dresses,  but  they  usually  wear  the  ordinary 
Siamese  costume,  adding  to  it  a  jacket  of  silk  and  a  scarf 
around  the  shoulders. 

The  ruler  of  Siam  until  recently  made  his  subjects 
crawl  about  on  their  knees  and  bump  their  heads  on  the 
floor  when  they  appeared  before  him.  It  was  King  Chu- 
la-lang'korn,  who  ascended  the  throne  in  1868,  that  first 
allowed  his  subjects  to  stand  in  his  presence.  He  intro- 
duced many  improvements,  including  a  post  office,  a  mint, 
and  an  agricultural  department.  There  is  now  a  street- 
car line  on  the  land  part  of  Bangkok,  and  a  little  railroad 
has  been  built.  There  is,  however,  great  room  for 
improvement  in  the  condition  of  Siam.  The  people  are 
sunk  in  superstition,  laziness,  and  vice.  Gambling  is 
common.  Very  few  Siamese  are  educated,  and  of  the 
rich  lands  of  the  valley  of  the  Menam  only  about  one 
twentieth  is  cultivated. 


1/2 


SIAM. 


"—we  come  to  an  immense  building 


But  let  us  visit  one  of  the  king's  palaces.  We  pass 
soldiers  at  the  gate  as  we  go  through  the  wall,  and  after 
a  short  walk  we  come  to  an  immense  building  of  brick 
and  stone  covered  with  stucco,  a  kind  of  plaster.  It  is 
painted  white,  and  under  the  bright  rays  of  the  Siamese 
sun  it  appears  to  be  made  of  marble.  It  has  several 
stories,  and  wide  marble  stairways  lead  up  to  a  great 
front  door.  The  stairways  are  guarded  on  each  side, 
at  the  bottom,  by  elephants  of  iron  plated  with  gold. 

We  walk  between  these  elephants,  pass  up  the  steps, 
and  soon  find  ourselves  in  one  of  the  most  splendid  rooms 
of  the  world.  It  is  the  state  reception  room  of  the  king. 
Its  walls  are  frescoed  with  gold.  Its  ceiling  is  of  pieces 
of  glass  of  all  colors,  which,  with  the  light  shining  through 
them,  look  almost  like  jewels.     At  the  back  of  the  room  is 


THE  KING   AND    HIS    KLEPIIANTS. 


173 


the  king's  throne,  with  the  state  umbrellas  decorated  with 
silver  and  gold  standing  beside  it.  These  umbrellas  are 
held  over  his  majesty  when  he  receives  his  subjects. 

All  around,  placed  against  the  wall,  and  half  filling  the 
room,  are  trees  and  bushes  of  the  precious  metals.  The 
leaves  of  these  trees  are  of  solid  gold  and  solid  silver, 
and  the  trunks  are  of  wood  or  metal  plated  with  gold  and 
silver.  The  w-orkmanship  is  as  beautiful  as  that  of  the 
most  skillful  jewelers  of  Europe. 

This  is,  perhaps,  the  most  valuable  collection  of  trees  in 
the  w'orld.  It  is  composed  of  the  offerings  made  by  the 
king's  officials  and  by  the  rulers  of  his  tributary  provinces. 
They  make  him  presents  of  gold  and  silver  trees  every 
year,  and  in  this  w'ay  he  gets  a  large  part  of  his  wealth. 

The  King  of  Siam  is,  indeed,  a  very  rich  man.  His  in- 
come is  said  to  be 
about  ten  millions  of 
dollars  a  year.  He  is 
rich,  however,  at  the 
expense  of  his  people, 
the  most  of  whom  are 
very  poor,  and  many 
of  whom  are  in  debt. 
Just  outside  his  pal- 
ace walls,  I  once  saw 
a  number  of  Siam- 
ese men  with  chains 
about  their  legs,  work- 
ing upon  the  roads. 
I  was  told  that  they  were  slaves  who  had  been  made  such 
because  they  could  not  pay  their  debts. 

Siam  is  called  the  "  Land  of  the  W^hite  Elephant."  This 
beast  is  considered  royal,  and  his  majesty,  the  king,  has 


1^, 


'—with  chains  about  their  legs 


174 


SIAM. 


elephant  stables  in  his  palace  grounds.  We  see  pictures 
of  elephants  upon  all  the  flags,  and  the  figure  of  this  ani- 
mal is  stamped  upon  the  coins.  When  the  king  and  the 
princes  go  out  to  ride  in  state  in  the  streets  of  Bangkok, 
they  sit  in  cars  placed  upon  the  backs  of  elephants ;  and 


"  —  they  sit  in  cars  placed  upon  the  backs  of  elephants  —  " 

at  such  times  the   people   honor  the  elephants  quite  as 
much  as  the  king. 

The  reason  for  this  we  find  in  the  religion  of  Siam, 
which  is  a  form  of  Buddhism.  Among  the  Siamese,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  souls  of  men  at  their  deaths  are  sup- 
posed to  go  into  the  bodies  of  animals,  and  each  elephant 


THE  KING  AND   IIIS  ELEPHANTS.  1 75 

by  this  theory  has  the  soul  of  some  man  in  it.  The  souls 
of  very  good  men  go  into  the  bodies  of  white  animals,  and 
those  of  good  kings  or  saints  arc  supposed  to  be  born 
again  in  white  elephants.  These  animals  are  therefore 
worshiped  as  containing  the  spirits  of  departed  heroes. 
The  Siamese  have  always  treated  them  with  great  honor, 
though  they  seem  to  show  less  reverence  now  than  they 
did  in  the  past.  In  former  years,  white  elephants  had 
their  special  attendants.  Their  skins  were  covered  with 
cloths  of  velvet,  and  their  ivory  tusks  were  bound  with 
gold  bands.  Shows  and  concerts  were  given  in  their 
honor.  Gold  chains  hung  from  their  necks,  and  they  had 
a  number  of  royal  servants  to  wait  on  them.  We  have 
heard  these  stories,  and  we  leave  the  gorgeous  room  of 
the  golden  bushes  and  go  out  to  find  the  white  elephants. 

What  do  we  see  .-' 

Nothing  but  four  wild-eyed,  scraggy-looking  beasts,  with 
long  tusks  and  with  skins  not  much  whiter  than  those  of 
the  elephant  in  the  traveling  circus.  The  only  parts 
really  white  are  their  long,  flapping  ears.  The  rest  of 
their  skins  is  white  only  in  spots,  and  we  learn  that  a  white 
elephant  is,  in  fact,  a  sick  elephant.  The  whiteness  comes 
from  a  skin  disease,  and  not  from  any  king  or  hero,  as  the 
Siamese  suppose. 

As  we  see  how  the  king's  elephants  are  kept,  we  doubt 
whether  his  majesty,  himself,  believes  that  they  are  of  royal 
blood.  The  stables  are  dirty.  The  animals  are  chained 
by  the  feet  to  wooden  posts,  and  the  men  who  take  care  of 
them  arc  half  naked  and  quite  as  dirty  n;?  the  elephants. 
As  we  look,  one  of  the  keepers  holds  out  his  hand  for  a 
present  of  money.  We  give  him  a  few  coins,  and  he 
thereupon  makes  the  royal  white  elephant  get  down  on 
his  knees  to  us,  so  that  wo  feel  quite  grand  for  the  time. 


176  SIAM. 

Now,  let  us  visit  some  of  the  Buddhist  temples  and  learn 
something  about  this  religion  of  which  we  see  so  much  in 
our  tour  through  the  Far  East.  The  religion  of  Buddhism 
was  founded  by  a  prince  named  Siddhartha  (sid-dar'tha), 
who  was  born  in  India  in  the  sixth  century  before  Christ. 
He  saw  the  poverty,  the  evil,  the  wickedness  there  was  in 
the  world,  and  he  went  forth  from  his  palace  as  a  beggar 
and  wandered  over  the  earth  seeking  to  learn  how  to  re- 
lieve it.  After  a  time  he  thought  he  had  discovered  the 
true  religion,  and  he  called  himself  Buddha,  which  means 
"the  enlightened."  He  then  went  about  preaching  what 
he  believed,  and  thus  founded  the  Buddhist  religion,  which 
is  supposed  to  have  more  than  three  hundred  million 
followers. 

Buddha  said  that  when  men  died  their  souls  went  into 
animals  and  insects,  and  that  they  possibly  might  be  born 
again  as  men,  but  that  man's  future  state  will  be  good  or 
bad  as  he  is  good  or  bad  in  this  world.  He  taught  gentle- 
ness, kindness,  and  brotherly  love,  but  the  sum  of  his  re- 
ligion was  that  life  is  a  bad  thing  at  best,  and  that  heaven 
will  be  a  place  where  man  will  neither  worry  nor  rejoice, 
and  where  he  will  be  as  near  nothing  as  possible. 

This  religion,  however,  has  changed  until  it  has  become 
little  more  than  a  worship  of  idols.  In  Bangkok  we  shall 
find  some  of  its  most  gorgeous  temples  and  we  shall  every- 
where meet  its  priests. 

There  are  more  than  ten  thousand  Buddhist  priests  in 
Bangkok.  They  are  of  all  ages  from  sixteen  to  eighty,  and 
by  a  custom  of  the  country  every  man  at  some  time  of  his 
life  expects  to  be  a  priest.  The  priests  shave  their  heads. 
They  wear  strips  of  yellow  cloth  wound  around  their  half- 
naked  bodies.  Yellow  was  the  color  chosen  by  Buddha  as 
a  sign  of  humility,  because  when  he  was  alive  the  thieves 


THE   KING   AND    HIS   ELEPHANTS.  17/ 

and  criminals  of  India  wore  yellow  clothes.  The  Siamese 
priests  we  find  far  from  humble.  They  strut  about  with 
cigars  or  cigarettes  in  their  mouths,  chewing  the  betel  as 
they  go  from  door  to  door,  or  float  from  house  to  house, 
begging  for  rice  and  presents. 

Every  morning  they  make  a  tour  of  the  city,  each  priest 
having  his  own  rice  beat.  The  people  bring  the  rice, 
already  cooked  and  steaming,  in  pots,  to  the  fronts  of  their 
houses,  and  when  a  priest  comes  along  they  fall  on  their 
knees  and  raise  their  hands  as  though  praying,  and  ask 
him  to  accept  the  gift.  The  priests  are  considered  holy, 
and  mothers  often  thus  bow  down  to  their  sons  who  have 
gone  into  the  priesthood. 

The  Buddhist  temples  of  Bangkok  are  gorgeous  beyond 
description.  They  are  vast  buildings  covered  with  white 
plaster  and  painted  in  many  colors,  with  spires  taller  than 
the  tallest  of  the  palm  trees.  Some  of  the  temple  spires 
are  plated  with  gold,  and  one  temple,  in  which  the  king 
worships,  has  a  golden  spire  that  cost  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  doors  of  this  building  arc  of  ebony 
inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl,  and  one  of  its  rooms  has  a 
carpet  of  woven  silver. 

The  temple  contains  an  idol  twelve  inches  high  and 
eight  inches  wide  which  is  made  of  pure  gold  and  jewels. 
When  the  metal  was  yet  liquid  in  the  melting  pot,  so  the 
Siamese  say,  sapphires,  rubies,  and  diamonds  were  stirred 
into  it,  and  out  of  the  mi.xture  were  made  the  hair  and 
collar  of  the  idol.  It  is  before  this  image  that  the  king 
comes  every  morning  to  i>ra\',  and  here  the  ladies  of  his 
palace  bend  their  knees  at  certain  times  of  the  year.  The 
idol  is  on  a  pedestal  which  stands  high  above  the  floor  of 
the  temple.  It  has  a  little  silk  scarf  about  its  neck,  and 
we  are  told  that  the  king  crawls  up  on  a  ladder  three  times 


178 


SIAM. 


every  year  and  changes  the  scarf,  giving  the  idol  a  new 
dress  for  each  season. 

We  find  other  idols  of  all  sizes,  and  in  one  temple  at 
Bangkok  there  is  one  of  the  largest  idols  of  the  world.  It 
is  known  as  the  Sleeping  Buddha.  It  is  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  long,  and  the  soles  of  its  feet  measure  eighteen 


—  spires  taller  than  the  tallest  of  the  palm  trees." 

feet  from  toe  to-  heel.  A  room  eighteen  feet  wide  makes  a 
good-sized  parlor,  and  you  could  not  put  the  two  soles  of 
this  idol's  feet  on  a  floor  less  than  eighteen  feet  square. 
The  arm  near  the  elbow  is  as  big  round  as  a  large  oak 
tree,  and  the  ears,  if  placed  upon  end  on  the  floor,  would 
reach  about  four  feet  higher  than  the  average  ceiling. 
This  immense  figure  is  made  of  clay  plated  with  gold; 
and  it  must  have  cost  a  great  sum  of  money. 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE   MALAYS.  179 


XXI.     SINGAPORE   AND   THE   MALAYS. 

LEAVING  Bangkok,  wc  sail  for  five  days  to  the  south- 
ward over  the  Gulf  of  Siam  to  the  Straits  of  Malacca, 
and  land  at  Singapore,  within  eighty  miles  of  the  equator. 
The  voyage  is  far  different  from  our  trip  across  the  Pacific. 
It  is  through  summer  seas,  and  our  surroundings  are  those 
of  the  tropics.  All  nature  is  changed.  At  night  the  stars 
seem  to  be  more  brilliant  than  we  have  ever  seen  thera 
before,  and  Venus  and  Mars  cast  rays  like  those  of  the 
moon  upon  the  water.  The  moon  itself  appears  to  be 
closer  to  the  earth,  and  larger  and  brighter  than  it  was  in 
America. 

We  sec  the  stars  which  make  up  the  Southern  Cross, 
and  which  are  not  visible  from  our  part  of  the  world.  The 
Milky  Way  seems  more  milky  than  ever.  The  sea  is  bluer, 
and  before  the  moon  rises  the  flashes  of  phosphorus  upon 
the  water  mark  out  the  ship's  track  as  a  wide  road  of  fire 
which  loses  itself  now  and  then  in  the  darkness,  but  which 
springs  alive  again  upon  every  wavelet  that  is  sent  back 
by  the  steamer. 

The  sun,  so  hot  at  midday  that  we  dare  not  step  out 
upon  the  deck  without  some  head  covering,  goes  down  in 
the  west  in  a  gorgeous  splendor  unknown  to  the  northern 
Pacific.  Its  dying  rays  color  the  water  with  bright  tints 
of  gold,  which  fade  one  into  another,  and  finally,  when  the 
sun  has  sunk  below  the  horizon,  change  first  to  a  delicate 
purple,  and  then  to  a  rich,  dark  blue,  onlv  to  light  up  again 
under  the  bright  tropical  splendor  of  the  moon  and  stars. 
When  there  are  clouds  in  the  sky  the  sunsets  are  grander. 
As  we  near  the  coast  and  float  into  the  Straits,  the  sun's 
last  rays  are  filtered  through  palm  trees,  and  the  funeral 


l8o  MALAY   PENINSULA. 

song  of  the  dying  day  is  sung  by  a  thousand  birds,  whose 
voices  are  new  to  the  ears  of  the  people  of  temperate 
zones. 

We  have  now  reached  the  land  of  the  Malays. 

We  float  along  the  Malay  Peninsula,  which,  though  it 
is  near  the  main  line  of  ocean  travel,  is  but  little  known  to 
the  world.  It  is  in  the  heart  of  the  tropics,  its  rich  soil 
being  covered  with  a  dense  jungle  of  luxuriant  vegetation, 
and  its  shores  bordered  with  cocoanut  palms  which  may  be 
seen  by  thousands  with  the  glass  as  we  sail  by.  This  part 
of  Indo-China  has  also  forests  of  the  choicest  hard  woods. 

We  are  now  in  the  home  of  the  snake  and  the  tiger. 
The  Malay  Peninsula  contains  jungles  filled  with  wild 
beasts.  Hundreds  of  tigers,  it  is  said,  swim  across  the 
narrow  strait  between  the  peninsula  and  the  island  of 
Singapore  every  year.  During  a  visit  which  I  made  to 
the  city  of  Johore,  on  the  Malay  Peninsula,  I  was  shown 
the  tracks  of  a  tiger  in  the  dust  of  a  sawmill.  The  tiger 
had  called  the  night  before,  but  had  gone  away  without 
eating  up  any  of  the  Malay  babies  living  in  the  huts  sur- 
rounding the  mill,  and  without  playing  with  the  quiet  buzz 
saw.  Nevertheless,  the  mill  was  in  the  heart  of  a  large 
city,  where  you  would  not  think  a  tiger  would  dare  to  go. 

The  danger  from  tigers  and  snakes  is  so  great,  we  find, 
that  the  Governor  of  Singapore  gives  a  reward  of  fifty 
dollars  for  every  tiger  killed,  and  that  venomous  snakes 
are  paid  for  according  to  their  size,  the  rewards  ranging 
from  fifty  cents  to  five  dollars.  At  Singapore  I  once  saw 
a  man  bring  in  from  the  jungle  thirty-nine  venomous 
snakes,  for  each  of  which  he  demanded  a  reward.  He 
carried  them  in  a  bag,  and  when  he  showed  them  to  the 
policeman,  he  put  his  hand  into  the  bag  and  pulled  the 
snakes  out  one  by  one  and  killed  them  by  cracking  their 


SINGAPORE   AND   THE   MALAYS.  l8l 

heads  against  the  ground.  Why  he  was  not  bitten  I  do 
not  know.  He  did  not  seem  to  be  afraid  of  the  snakes, 
although  his  hands  were  bare. 

The  island  of  Singapore  belongs  to  Great  Britain. 
Like  the  island  of  Hongkong,  it  is  very  valuable,  though 
it  is  quite  small.  It  is  only  about  fourteen  miles  long,  but 
it  has  a  great  seaport,  the  city  of  Singapore.  This  city  is 
the  halfway  station  on  the  trip  around  the  world  from 
America.  All  the  great  ships  which  trade  with  China 
and  Japan  stop  here  on  their  way  through  the  Straits  of 
Malacca.  There  are  weekly  steamers  to  Batavia,  the 
capital  of  Java,  and  Borneo  is  not  far  off  to  the  eastward. 
It  is  a  thirteen  days'  voyage  from  Singapore  to  Calcutta, 
in  Hindustan,  and  almost  every  day  ships  come  to  this 
point  from  Ceylon.  The  result  is  that  the  population  of 
the  city  of  Singapore  is  made  up  of  natives  of  all  these 
countries,  and  you  find  in  it  a  mixture  of  yellows  and 
blacks,  of  Hindus  (hin'dooz)  wearing  turbans,  and  of 
Chinese  with  pigtails,  of  coffee-colored  Malays,  and  of 
pale-white  Caucasians  from  Europe. 

When  the  British  bought  the  land  in  1824  it  was  only  a 
flat  jungle,  and  the  town  of  Singapore  was  scarcely  more 
than  a  village.  It  has  now  grown  into  a  rich  city.  The 
island  of  Singapore,  together  with  the  territory  on  the 
adjoining  mainland,  forms  the  colony  of  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments, which  numbers  over  half  a  million  inhabitants;  and 
the  trade  of  Singapore  amounts  to  more  than  one  hundred 
million  dollars  a  year,  about  four  million  dollars'  worth  of 
goods  being  sent  annually  from  it  to  the  United  States. 

It  is  from  Singapore  that  we  get  many  of  our  spices. 
Upon  the  islands  about  the  Straits  of  Malacca  we  can 
visit  nutmeg  groves,  clove  plantations,  and  large  vine- 
yards   from   which   come    our  white    and    black    popper. 


1 82 


MALAY   PENINSULA. 


A  pepper  vineyard  looks  much  like  a  hopyard.  The 
vines  grow  very  fast.  They  are  trained  upon  tree  stumps, 
or  upon  sticks  stuck  upright  in  the  ground. 

The  vines  begin  to  bear  in  the  third  year,  and  they 
produce  crops  thereafter  for  a  number  of  years.  The 
best  of  them  yield  two  crops  a  year,  and  a  single  plant 


A  Pepper  Vineyard. 

often  produces  two  pounds  of  pepper  in  that  time.  Black 
and  white  pepper  grow  on  the  same  vines,  but  the  black 
kind  is  made  from  the  pepper  berries  which  are  picked 
when  green  and  turn  black,  while  the  white  pepper  comes 
from  the  ripe  berries,  which  when  picked  are  of  a  fiery 
red  color.  The  berries  are  soaked  in  water,  when  the 
red  or  green  outer  skin  falls  off  and  leaves  the  pepper 
of  commerce. 

A  large  number  of  the  people  of  Singapore  are  Chinese, 


SINGAPORE  AND  THE   MALAYS. 


183 


and  on  nearly  all  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  if  we  visited 
them,  wc  should  learn  that  Chinese  merchants  do  a  great 
part  of  the  business.  There  are,  in  fact,  almost  as  many- 
Chinese  in  Singapore  as  Malays. 

The  Malays  have  inhabited  the  Malay  Peninsula  and 
the  islands  about  the  Straits  of  Malacca  for  more  than 
two  thousand  years.  They  are  by  no  means  so  civilized 
as  the  Chinese,  although  they  look  somewhat  like  them. 
The  Malays  we  see  at  Singapore  are  very  lazy,  and  we 


A  Malay  Family. 

learn  that  they  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  working  only 
enough  to  keep  themselves  from  starving.  They  have  but 
little  clothing,  the  children  of  the  poorer  classes  going 
naked,  and  the  men  wearing  a  baglike  skirt  which  reaches 
from  the  waist  to  below  the  knees.  When  a  Malay  dresses 
he  places  his  skirt  on  the  floor  and  steps  into  it,  lifting  it 

CARP.  ASIA  —  1 2 


1 84 


MALAY   PENINSULA. 


up  to  his  waist  and  fastening  it  there  in  a  knot  by  a  pecul- 
iar twist.  The  dress  of  the  women  covers  nearly  the 
whole  of  their  bodies,  and  the  richer  girls  have  light  silk 
shawls  upon  their  heads.  The  skins  of  these  people  are 
brown.      Their   foreheads    are    low  and   their   forms   are 

slender. 

The  Malays  are 
Mohammedans. 
They  believe  in  the 
religion  of  Moham- 
med, of  which  we 
shall  learn  more  fur- 
ther on  in  our  trav- 
els. They  keep  their 
women  secluded,and 
it  is  only  those  of 
the  poorer  classes 
whom  we  see  on  the 
streets. 

Malay  villages  are 
made  up  of  one- 
story  huts  thatched 
with  palm  leaves. 
The  houses  are  sel- 
dom more  than  fif- 
teen feet  square. 
They  contain  but  little  furniture,  the  kitchen  outfit  con- 
sisting of  little  more  than  an  iron  pan  and  a  cocoanut 
ladle.  The  family  squat  down  on  their  heels  or  sprawl 
at  full  length  when  taking  their  ease  at  home,  and  the 
beds  are  mats  spread  on  the  earth  floor. 

The  Malay  men  are  very  proud  and   haughty.      They 
stand  very  straight,  and  their  walk  is  quite  graceful. 


Malay  Women. 


BURMA  — I'EOl'LE.  1 85 

The  climate  about  the  Straits  of  Malacca  is  such  that 
one  needs  little  clothing.  We  are  now  near  the  equator, 
where  the  sun  rises  and  sets  at  the  same  hour  eacli  day 
the  year  through,  where  the  Howers  always  bloom,  and  the 
trees  are  always  green.  Birds  by  the  thousands  sing  all 
the  year  round,  and  the  temperature  from  one  year's  end 
to  the  other  is  that  of  a  moist  July. 

In  riding  over  the  islands  we  pass  through  tropical 
jungles  and  through  cocoanut  and  coffee  plantations.  The 
green  cocoanuts  hang  by  bushels  in  great  bunches  from 
the  tops  of  tall  palm  trees,  each  of  which  is  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  feet  high,  having  a  trunk  which  is  sometimes 
two  feet  in  thickness. 

The  coffee  estates  are  made  up  of  fields  of  green  bushes 
which,  if  not  trimmed,  grow  to  a  height  of  eighteen  feet. 
The  coffee  berries  grow  close  to  the  branches.  When 
ripe,  they  are  dark  red  and  about  the  size  of  a  cherr}-. 
Each  berry  contains  two  seeds  surrounded  by  pulp,  and 
these  seeds  are  the  grains  of  coffee. 


XXII.     la  RAI.\    AND   TIIK    BURMESE. 

THINK  of  a  nation  of  eight  million  jicojile.  whoso  women 
wear  plugs  in  the  lobes  of  their  ears  as  big  round  as 
your  finger,  and  whose  men  have  their  bodies  covered  with 
tattooing  from  the  waist  to  the  knees.  Let  these  people 
have  oli\o-brown  ccMTiploxions,  eyes  almost  straight,  fat 
noses,  and  lips  a  little  thicker  than  ours.  Let  both  sexes 
have  long  black  hair,  which  they  bind  up  in  a  knot  on  the 
tops  of  their  heads.  Let  the  men  wear  turbans  of  bright 
red  or  yellow,  and  let  the  rest  of  their  clothing  consist  of 


BURMA. 


a  white  linen  or  cotton  jacket  reaching  to  the  waist,  and 
a  gay-colored  silk  or  cotton  skirt  which  falls  to  the  feet, 
and  which  is  bound  tightly  about  the  legs  and  loins  and 
tied  in  front  at  the  waist.     Let  the  women  dress  in  much 

the  same  way,  except  that 
their  heads  have  no  cover- 
ing. Let  both  sexes  go 
barefooted ;  and  you  have 
some  idea  of  the  people  of 
Burma,  among  whom  we 
find  ourselves  after  sailing 
along  the  east  coast  of  the 
Bay  of  Bengal  and  up  the 
mighty  Irawadi  River  to 
the  city  of  Rangun  (see 
map  on  p.  202). 

Burma  is  about  twice  as 
large  as  the  island  of  Great 
Britain,  and  it  is  naturally 
one  of  the  richest  countries 
of  the  world.  Its  broad 
valleys  are  cut  up  by  canals, 
and  they  produce  quantities  of  delicious  rice.  It  has 
mines  of  rubies  and  sapphires,  and  its  mountains  contain 
gold,  silver,  and  copper.  It  has  many  thatched  villages, 
and  several  large  cities.  Its  former  capital,  Mandalay, 
has  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  people,  and  there  are 
about  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  in  the  city  of  Ran- 
gun. The  Irawadi  River,  which  runs  through  Burma,  is 
one  of  the  great  rivers  of  the  world,  being  navigable  for 
small  boats  for  a  distance  of  nine  hundred  miles. 

Burma  now  belongs  to  Great  Britain,  and  is  governed 
as  a  part  of  British  India. 


Burmese  Girl. 


PEOPLE. 


187 


The  Burmese  have  their  own  civilization.  They  have 
their  own  language  and  literature,  and  we  find  the  people 
far  better  educated  than  the  Malays  or  Siamese.  Nearly 
every  Burmese  man  knows  how  to  read  and  write.  Every 
Burmese  boy  is  expected  to  go  to  school.  The  schools 
are  held  in  the  Buddhist  monasteries,  and  the  priests 
are  the  teachers.  The  boys  squat  on  the  floor  while 
in  school,  and  they  study  out  loud,  shouting  out  the 
lessons    they    are 

Q|wooo£q|s@sooo5oD»  01 


trying  to  learn. 
The  teachers  have 
long  whips  in  their 
hands  and  walk  up 
and  down  the  room 
watching  the  pu- 
pils, and  the  boy 
who  stops  shouting 
is  liable  to  get  a 
cut  of  the  whip. 
The  studies  are 
largely  made  up 
of  the  precepts  of 
the  Buddhist  reli- 
gion, and  many  of 
the  boys  become 
priests  after  they 
leave  school. 

Burmese  girls 
are  seldom  taught 


30o5q|330Co5;         gi 


cow£;oqin5(§coo;ii  nqj^scoooG^cpi 

ajjdi33CCO  93nqi6  ooodbii 

ooo<^o;»£joqj£;oo^rL)ii 

^c\^oqj5co5co^n 

oqj^GOOoqu 

J 

A  Page  from  a  Burmese  Book. 


30  £  008:09]  |cj6oo^« 

mSscooDo^nocco:" 

oo£«ooc5Q6co^» 

0^60811 

c)]^Qo;oo30oSccos^6« 


to  read;  for,  according  to  the  Buddhist  belief,  woman  is 
naturally  sinful,  and  it  hardly  pays  to  educate  her.  The 
only  girl  schools  of  Burma  are  those  of  the  missionaries 
and  some  which  have  been  established  by  the  British  rulers. 


1 88 


BURMA. 


A  Burmese  boy's  chief  ambition  is  to  have  a  rich  coat 
of  tattooing.  He  looks  upon  this  as  a  sign  of  manhood, 
and  gladly  submits  to  the  pain  which  he  must  undergo  to 
secure  it.     The  tattooing  is  done  by  a  professional  tattooer, 

who  uses  a  steel  pricker 
which  has  at  its  end  four 
split  points  as  sharp  as 
needles.  These  points 
are  dipped  into  ink  and 
then  thrust  into  the 
skin,  carrying  the  ink 
under  the  surface.  The 
tattooer  takes  up  the 
skin  in  his  hand  and 
pinches  it  while  he  thus 
marks  it  with  the  inked 
needles  which  are  to 
discolor  it  forever.  He 
makes  pictures  all  over 
the  boy's  thighs  in  this 
way,  so  that  when  the 
tattooing  is  completed 
the  boy  or  man  looks  as 
though  he  were  dressed 
in  kid  tights  covered 
with  red  and  blue  fig- 
ures of  serpents,  tigers, 
ogres,  and  demons.  Such  tattooing  is  not  done  all  at  once, 
but  figure  by  figure,  as  the  boy  or  man  can  stand  the  pain. 
It  takes  some  years  before  one  can  get  a  full  coat. 

The  Burmese  are  very  superstitious,  and  they  believe 
that  some  tattooed  figures  will  ward  off  certain  diseases 
and  accidents.     One  figure,  for  instance,  they  think  is  a 


Mother  and  Son,  the  Latter  partly  tattooed. 


PEOPLE.  189 

protection  from  snake  bite,  and  another,  it  is  thought,  will 
even  save  a  man  from  drowninj^.  Several  years  ago  a 
man  so  tattooed  was  persuaded  by  his  friends  to  test  the 
fact  as  to  whether  this  was  true  by  permitting  his  hands 
and  feet  to  be  tied  and  himself  to  be  thrown  into  the  river. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  current  carried  him  away, 
and  that  neither  the  man  nor  his  tattoo  was  ever  seen 
again. 

Another  kind  of  tattooing  is  of  value  to  schoolboys.  It 
prevents,  so  they  think,  the  boy's  feeling  the  whip  when 
he  is  punished  at  school ;  and  one  of  the  best  authorities 
on  Burma  states  that  the  Burmese  boys  are  very  anxious 
to  have  figures  of  this  kind  tattooed  upon  them. 

The  Burmese  women  look  upon  the  wearing  of  ear 
plugs  much  as  the  men  do  upon  the  possession  of  well- 
tattooed  skins.  A  girl  is  not  thought  to  be  a  woman  until 
her  ears  are  bored,  and  we  therefore  find  that  Burmese 
girls  are  as  an.xious  to  wear  ear  plugs  as  our  girls  are  to 
have  their  first  long  dresses. 

The  making  of  the  holes  in  the  ears  begins  when  the 
girl  has  reached  the  age  of  twelve  or  thirteen.  All  the 
sisters,  cousins,  and  aunts  are  invited  to  be  present,  and  a 
big  feast  is  prepared  for  the  occasion.  The  girl  lies  down 
on  a  mat,  and  a  professional  ear  borer  thrusts  a  gold 
needle  through  the  lobe  of  each  of  her  ears,  twisting  it 
around  so  that  it  forms  a  gold  ring,  which  is  left  in  the  ear. 
In  the  case  of  the  poor,  silver  needles  are  used.  The  girl 
screams  with  pain  at  the  time  of  the  boring,  but  her  cries 
are  drowned  by  the  music  of  a  band  which  plays  outside 
the  house. 

It  takes  the  ear  some  tiiue  to  heal,  and  then  begins  the 
process  of  making  the  holes  larger.  When  the  ear  is  per- 
fectly well,  the  needle  is  taken  out,  and  a  fine  gold  plate, 


1 90 


BURMA. 


tightly  rolled  up,  is  passed  through  the  hole.  This  is 
gradually  opened  from  week  to  week  until  the  hole  has 
been  stretched  by  it  to  the  size  of  your  little  finger,  or 
larger. 

The  poor,  who  cannot  afford  gold,  put  stems  of  grass 
into  their  ears,  inserting  one  stem  after  another  until  they 
have  a  bunch  as  big  around  as  your  thumb  in  each  ear. 

After  a  long  time,  when  the  holes  have  become  of  the 
proper  size,  the  girl  puts  into  them  ear  plugs  or  hollow 
pipes  of  gold  and  silver  about  the  size  of  an  open-ended 
thimble.     Sometimes  the  plugs  are  set  with   jewels,  and 

sometimes  plugs  of  glass 


or  of  amber  are  used. 
In  some  cases  the  holes 
in  the  lobes  of  the  ears 
become  so  large  that  a 
man  could  put  his  thumb 
through  them  without 
trouble  ;  and  I  have  seen 
Burmese  women  carry- 


"  —  several  plugs  in  one  ear." 


ing  cigars  and  cigarettes  in  them. 

You  would  not  suppose  that  the  flesh  can  stretch  as  it 
does.  Some  of  the  poorer  women's  ears  are  so  enlarged 
by  this  process  that  the  string  of  flesh  that  hangs  down  in 
place  of  the  lobe  is  almost  as  large  round  as  the  ear  itself. 
In  Upper  Burma  holes  are  made  and  plugs  are  worn  in  the 
other  parts  of  the  ear  as  well  as  in  the  lobes,  and  many 
women  wear  several  plugs  in  one  ear. 

But  let  us  take  a  look  at  the  Burmese  houses.  They  are 
in  most  cases  little  more  than  sheds  set  upon  piles.  They 
have  walls  of  plaited  or  woven  bamboo,  and  their  roofs  are 
thatched  with  palm  leaves  pinned  to  rafters  of  bamboo 
cane  as  big  round  as  fishing  poles.    Very  few  of  the  houses 


PEOPLE. 


191 


are  of  more  than  one  story.  Each  is  built  upon  a  plat- 
form so  high  above  the  ground  that  in  many  cases  you 
could  walk  under  it  without  stooping.  Cattle  and  horses 
are  often  kept  in  the  space  under  the  house,  and  you 
climb  stairs  to  get  to  the  first  floor. 

The  Burmese  use  but  little  furniture.     They  sleep  upon 
mats  just  as  the  Siamese  do.     They  keep  their  heads  off 


Burmese  Houses. 


the  floor  by  resting  them  upon  little  pillow  frames  of  cane, 
each  pillow  being  about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  small 
loaf  of  bread.  The  cooking  is  usually  done  out  of  doors. 
The  fire  is  built  upon  the  ground,  and  the  cooking  utensils 
consist  of  little  more  than  two  or  three  earthen  pots. 

The  chief  article  of  food  is  rice,  a  huge  platter  of  which 
is  cooked  for  every  meal.  In  addition,  there  is  a  bowl  of 
curry,  a  gravylike  mixture  made  of  fish  and  seasoned  with 
pepper  until  it  is  exceedingly  hot.     The  rice  dish  is  placed 


192 


BURMA. 


on  the  floor,  and  the  family  squat  around  it,  each  member 
having  two  bowls,  a  small  one  for  curry  and  a  large  one  for 
rice.  There  are  no  knives  and  no  forks.  Every  one  helps 
himself,  putting  his  fingers  into  his  rice  bowl  and  taking  up 

as  much  as  he  can  squeeze 
into  his  hand,  and  then 
crowding  it  into  his  mouth. 
At  the  close  of  the  meal 
every  one  is  required  to 
wash  his  own  dishes.  No 
drinking  is  done  during  the 
meal,  but  at  the  end  of  it 
each  of  the  family  goes  to 
the  water  jar  and  rinses  out 
his  mouth.  Every  one,  from 
the  gray-haired  grandfather 
to  the  boy  of  ten,  takes  a 
smoke  after  the  meal,  the 
women  and  girls  joining  in 
with  the  rest.  Several  of 
them  sometimes  use  the 
same  cigar,  passing  it  from 
one  to  another  and  smoking 
by  turns. 

The  Burmese  people  are 
very  hospitable,  and,  with 
all  their  queer  customs,  they 
are   kind   and   polite.     The 


among  the  most  beautiful 


women  are  bright  and  intelligent,  and  the  young  ladies  of 
Burma  are  among  the  most  beautiful  women  we  meet  in 
our  travels. 

The  Burmese  women  have  more  rights  than  any  of  the 
other  women  of  Asia.     The  Japanese  wife  is  addressed  as 


pKorLE.  193 

a  slave  by  her  husband,  and  she  seldom  appears  in  the 
room  when  he  has  <:^uests.  The  Korean  hidy,  as  we 
learned  in  Seoul,  cannot  <;o  on  the  street  except  in  a  closed 
chair,  and  the  small-footed  Chinese  wife  is  the  servant  of 
her  mother-in-law.  The  Siamese  girl  is  expected  to  do 
more  work  than  her  brothers,  and  she  is,  according  to  law, 
the  projierty  of  the  king.  The  Malay  wife  lives  secluded 
in  the  house  of  her  husband,  and  millions  of  the  women  of 
India  and  Turkey  are  not  to  be  seen  upon  the  streets. 
But  the  Burmese  women  mix  with  the  men  everywhere. 
Burmese  wives  have  equal  rights  in  property  and  social 
standing  with  their  husbands,  and  they  generally  hr.ve 
charge  of  the  family  purse. 

A  large  part  of  the  business  of  Burma  is  carried  on  by 
women.  The  stores  of  each  city  are  collected  together  in 
what  are  known  as  bazaars,  each  consisting  of  a  large 
number  of  little  stores  or  shops  under  one  roof.  The 
stores  are  small  rooms  opening  upon  the  streets  or  pas- 
sages which  run  through  the  ba/aar.  luich  room  is 
walled  with  goods.  The  merchants  sit  on  the  floor  as 
they  show  their  wares  to  the  jiurchasers,  who  stand  in 
the  passages  and  bargain  as  to  the  ]-)rice  thev  shall  pay. 
In  most  of  the  stores  of  Rangun  the  merchants  are 
women.  They  sell  silks,  cottons,  cigars,  jewelry,  and  many 
other  articles.  Some  of  the  women  are  old,  but  most  are 
young  girls,  who,  though  they  cannot  read  or  write,  are 
able  to  count  very  quickly,  and  who  understand  how  to 
bargain. 

Girls  often  go  into  the  bazaars  and  remain  there  selling 
goods  until  thcv  get  husbands.  In  Burma  love  making  is 
carried  on  in  somewhat  the  same  way  as  with  us,  and 
the  Burmese  husband  has,  as  a  rvile.  but  one  wife,  though 
more    are    permitted.       Parents    often    arrange    marriages 


194 


BURMA. 


without  asking  the  consent  of  their  son  or  daughter  who 
is  to  be  married,  but  elopements  are  common,  and  engage- 
ments are  sometimes  made  by  the  young  people  them- 
selves. 

The  marriage  ceremony  consists  of  the  eating  together 
of  rice  out  of  the  same  bowl  in  the  presence  of  friends, 
and  of  promising  before  them  to  live  together  henceforth 
as  man  and  wife.  The  Burmese  believe  that  women 
should  marry,  as  will  be  seen  from  one  of  their  proverbs, 
which  reads  as  follows  : 

"  Monks  are  beautiful  when  they  are  lean,  four-footed 
animals  are  beautiful  when  they  are  fat,  men  when  they 
are  learned,  and  women  when  they  are  married." 


XXIII.    BURMESE  FARMING  AND  THE  WORK- 
ING  ELEPHANTS. 

ONE  of  the  great  sights  of  Burma  is  the  elephants 
at  work. 

Elephants  at  work .-'  I  hear  some  one  ask.  What  do 
you  mean  ?  Do  these  great,  clumsy  beasts  actually  do 
anything  except  carry  men  on  their  backs  ? 

Yes,  indeed.  They  are  big,  but  they  are  not  clumsy. 
They  are  among  the  most  intelligent  animals  of  the  world. 
Let  us  visit  the  lumber  yards  at  Rangun.  There  we  shall 
find  these  beasts  carrying  great  logs.  They  move  piles  of 
lumber,  and  they  obey  the  orders  of  their  masters  almost 
as  though  they  were  men  and  could  understand  what  was 
said. 

Have  you  ever  heard  of  the  teak  tree  .''  Its  wood  is  as 
heavy  as  iron.     It  is  one  of  the  finest  trees  of  Asia.     It  is 


FARMING   i\ND    ELEPHANTS. 


195 


large  and  straight  and  very  valuable.  Great  quantities  of 
teak  wood  are  shipped  from  Rangun  to  all  parts  of  the 
world  for  use  in  shipbuilding  and  in  the  making  of  fur- 
niture. In  the  lumber  yards  at  Rangun  we  find  many 
heavy  teak  logs  which  have  been  brought  there  to  be 
sawed  into  boards  and  beams  for  the  market.  Among  these 
logs  we  see  great  elephants  moving  about  and  doing  all 
sorts  of  work. 

There  is  one  carrying  a  log  on  his  tusks.  The  elephant 
has  thrown  his  trunk  over  the  top  of  the  log,  and  he  bal- 
ances his  long,  heavy 
burden  in  the  air  as  he 
moves  slowly  onward, 
picking  his  way  in  and 
out  through  the  piles  of 
lumber.  Mis  master  is  a 
dark-skinned,  half-naked 
man,  dressed  in  a  white 
waistcloth  and  jacket, 
and  with  a  red  handker- 
chief tied  about  his  black 
head.  He  sits  on  the 
animal's  neck  just  back 
of  the  great,  flapping  ears,  with  his  bare  legs  hanging 
down  on  ench  side.  He  speaks  to  the  elephant  now  and 
then,  and  when  the  animal  does  not  obey  he  thrusts  into 
the  elephant's  skin  the  point  of  a  short  brass  hook  fas- 
tened to  the  end  of  the  stick  which  he  has  in  his  hand. 

We  follow  the  elephant  to  see  what  he  will  do  with  the 
log.  He  carries  it  to  the  sawmill  on  the  opjiosite  side  of 
the  yard.  Here  there  is  a  truck  upon  wheels  so  placed 
that  the  logs  upon  it  can  be  moved  against  the  circular  saw 
by  which  they  are  to  be  divided  into  boards.    The  elephant 


EIc^. 


196 


BURMA. 


carries  his  log  to  this  truck.  He  places  it  lengthwise  upon 
the  truck,  and  with  his  tusks  and  his  trunk  moves  it  into 
just  the  proper  place  for  the  saw. 

There  is  another  elephant  piling  logs.  He  has  laid  the 
logs  regularly  one  on  top  of  another  as  evenly  as  though 
he  had  calculated  their  order  by  measure.  See  how  he 
raises  that  log  on  his  tusks  in  order  to  carry  it  to  the  pile ! 
He  goes  to  the  center  of  the  log  and  gets  down  on  his 
knees  before  it.  Next  he  thrusts  his  tusks  under  it,  and 
then,  throwing  his  trunk  over  the  top,  rises  slowly  upward 
with  his  heavy  burden  nicely  balanced,  and  thus  carries* it 
to  the  pile.  At  first  he  can  roll  the  log  on  the  others  with- 
out trouble,  but  as  the 
I  pile  becomes  higher  he 
has  to  lift  the  log  to  the 
top.  First  he  stands  it 
upon  end,  propping  it 
against  the  pile ;  then, 
placing  his  tusks  under 
the  lower  end  of  the  log, 
he  slides  it  up  off  the 
ground  and  sends  it 
flying  into  place. 

In  other  parts  of  the 
yard  we  see  elephants 
gathering  up  the  scraps  of  lumber  and  the  loose  boards. 
They  lay  these  in  piles  upon  ropes  which  have  been  placed 
on  the  ground.  The  workmen  tie  the  ropes  around  the 
little  piles,  whereupon  the  elephants  push  their  tusks 
under  the  ropes  and  thus  carry  the  bundles  of  lumber  off 
to  their  proper  place  in  the  yard. 

There  goes  a  bell !     It  is  noon,  and  that  is  the  signal  for 
the  men  in  the  yard  to  stop  work  for  dinner.    We  find  that 


piling  logs." 


!•  ARMING   AND    KLKI'IIAN  TS. 


197 


the  elephants  stop,  too.  They  do  not  wait  for  orders  from 
their  drivers,  but,  as  the  first  sound  of  the  bell  falls  on  their 
ears,  they  drop  their  loads  and  bolt  for  the  feeding  shed. 
Their  drivers  tell  us  that  they  cannot  make  the  animals 
work  after  the  bell  has  been  rung,  and  we  learn  from  them 
some  other  ciuious  facts  concerning  these  beasts. 

We  find,  that,  though  elephants  are  very  strong,  they  are 
subject  to  many  diseases,  and  that  they  must  be  watchfully 
cared  for.  The  working 
elephant  is  fed  regularly. 
He  has  his  bath  twice  a 
day.  He  becomes  ver\ 
restless  if  anything  gels 
under  the  cloth  upon  his 
back,  and  he  will  tremble 
like  a  woman  at  the  sight 
of  a  mouse,  for  fear  that 
the  little  animal  may  run 
up  his  trunk. 

As  we  leave  the  lumber  yards  we  throw  some  silver  to 
the  rider  of  one  of  the  elephants.  The  man  catches  it. 
He  speaks  to  his  elephant,  and  the  great  beast  throws  his 
trunk  high  up  into  the  air  and  gives  us  a  salute,  as  though 
he  knew  that  we  had  been  kind  to  his  master. 

Elephants  are  used  in  clearing  Burmese  land  of  forests. 
They  drag  out  the  logs,  and  with  heavy  plows  they  are 
able  to  break  up  the  matted  soil  of  the  jungle,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  turned  into  farms.  The  elephant  plow  is  a 
two-wheeled  instrument  with  a  heavv  share  fastened  to  it. 
One  man  holds  the  handles  of  the  plow  and  presses  the 
share  into  the  earth.  Aniither  sits  on  the  neck  of  the 
elephant,  and  a  third,  walking  bv  his  side,  aids  in  directing 
the  srreat  animal  alonu;  the  furrow. 


He  has  ins  ualii 


198  BUEMA. 

Traveling  in  Upper  Burma  is  done  upon  elephants. 
They  are  the  only  beasts  by  which  we  can  make  our  way 
through  the  jungles.  They  can  pull  the  branches  aside 
with  their  tusks,  and  push  their  way  through  the  thickest 
of  the  tropical  vegetation.  They  can  swim  rivers  and 
climb  hills  ;  and  it  is  said,  that,  when  they  come  to  very 
steep  places,  they  sometimes  sit  down  on  their  hind  legs 
and  slide  downhill  in  preference  to  risking  a  fall  by 
walking. 

The  Burmese  arc  Buddhists. 

Near  the  city  of  Rangun  we  shall  visit  a  great  monu- 
ment which  was  erected  to  Buddha,  and  which  is  one  of 
the  most  splendid  buildings  of  the  world.  It  is  a  great 
gilded  tower,  rising  in  mighty  rings  from  an  immense 
stone  platform,  and  growing  smaller  as  it  goes  upward, 
until  at  last  it  ends  in  a  golden  spire  which  seems  almost 
to  pierce  the  sky.  It  is  higher  than  any  structure  in 
America  except  the  Monument  at  Washington,  and  the 
whole  of  it  blazes  in  the  sunlight  as  though  it  were  of 
solid  gold.  Upon  its  top  there  is  a  golden  umbrella  which 
is  studded  with  precious  jewels.  The  tower  is  made  of 
brick  and  mortar,  and  only  its  outside  is  plated  with  gold. 
It  has  been  regilded  again  and  again,  and  there  is  an 
enormous  amount  of  the  precious  metal  in  it. 

It  was  built  ages  ago,  and  the  spot  which  it  covers  has 
been  a  shrine,  or  praying  place,  for  more  than  five  hun- 
dred years.  During  the  last  century  one  of  the  kings  of 
Burma  vowed  that  he  would  give  his  own  weight  in  gold 
to  it.  The  vow  cost  him  forty-five  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  gold  leaf,  for  it  took  just  that  much,  it  is  said,  to  equal 
his  weight.  The  Burmese  tell  us  that  this  Golden  Pagoda 
is  built  above  a  casket  containing  two  hairs  from  the  head  of 
Buddha  himself.     It  is  this  fact  that  makes  the  place  holy. 


FARMING   AND    ELEPHANTS. 


199 


About  the  Golden  Pagoda  \vc  find  dozens  of  women, 
clad  in  bright  silk  gowns  and  white  jackets,  kneeling  and 
bowing.  Upon  the  platform  we  see  offerings  of  rice  and 
flowers,  and  the  air  is  filled 
with  the  perfume  of  the 
roses  which  worshipers  have 
laid  at  its  base.  Men  are 
kneeling  before  it,  and  as 
we  look  boys  come  up,  kneel 
down,  hold  up  their  hands, 
and  pray  under  the  blazing 
sun. 

Let  us  take  a  journey  up 
the  Irawadi  River  and  see 
something  of  the  country 
outside  the  cities.  There 
are  millions  of  acres  of  rice 
farms  in  Burma.  Rangun 
is  the  greatest  rice  port  in 
the  world.  The  valley  of 
the  river  is  made  up  of  rice 
fields,  and  we  see  men  here 
and  there  plowing.  They 
use  wooden  plows,  and  they 
are  doing  their  work  in  the 
laziest  way.  In  some  places 
they  do  not  plow  at  all,  but 
instead  the  children  drive 
the  water  buffaloes  and  oxen  up  and  down  through  the 
mud  until  the  earth  has  been  thoroughly  mixed,  and  then 
logs  are  hauled  over  the  fields  to  smooth  them  down. 

The  rice  plants  are  first  grown  in  nurseries,  just  as  in 
Japan,  and  the  women  and  children  set  them  out  in  the 

CAKl'.  ASIA  —  13 


Children  from  Upper  Burma. 


200  BURMA. 

fields,  using  their  fingers  to  make  the  holes  in  the  earth 
into  which  they  drop  the  plants.  The  farmer  usually 
squats  on  the  edge  of  the  field  and  smokes  while  the  rest 
of  the  family  work. 

After  planting,  little  is  done  with  the  rice  until  harvest. 
The  grain  is  then  cut  with  sickles,  little  more  than  the 
heads  being  taken  off.  It  is  partly  threshed  by  laying 
it  on  a  hard  place  upon  the  ground  and  driving  bullocks 
over  it.  After  this  it  is  taken  to  the  river  and  shipped  to 
Rangun,  whence  it  is  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

A  grain  of  rice,  when  it  leaves  the  farmer,  is  much  like 
a  grain  of  wheat  with  the  husk  on  it.  This  shell  or  husk 
must  be  taken  off  before  the  rice  is  shipped  away  to  other 
countries,  and  there  are  great  mills  for  this  purpose,  which 
employ  thousands  of  men.  They  are  not  unlike  the  large 
flour  mills  of  America. 

Let  us  visit  a  rice  mill  and  see  how  the  husks  are  taken 
off  from  the  little  grains  without  spoiling  the  rice.  The 
husks  stick  to  the  grains  as  though  they  were  glued,  and 
it  is  no  easy  task.  We  find  that  the  rice  must  be  passed 
through  one  pair  of  millstones  after  another.  These  mill- 
stones are  so  carefully  set  that  they  tear  the  husk  off  with- 
out breaking  the  little  white  grain  which  lies  within  it. 

After  the  husk  is  removed  the  grain  must  be  smoothed 
up  for  the  market.  It  is  queer  to  think  of  rice  being 
polished  like  our  best  silver  spoons,  but  that  is  what  is 
done  with  the  rice  at  Rangun.  After  the  grains  are 
husked  they  are  thrown  by  machinery  against  a  roller 
covered  with  sheepskin  as  soft  as  the  inside  of  a  kid 
glove.  They  are  brought  into  contact  with  this  roller 
again  and  again  until  they  are  perfectly  smooth. 

Five  hundred  miles  up  the  river  we  reach  the  city  of 
Mandalay,  where  the  kings  of  Burma  ruled  before  Great 


FARMING   AND    ELEPHANTS, 


20 1 


Britain  took  possession  of  the  country.  In  times  past, 
according  to  a  custom  in  Burma,  the  location  of  the  capital 
was  changed  at  the  wish  of  the  king,  and  it  was  in  1856 
that  one  of  the  Burmese  monarchs  decided  to  move  his 
capital  from  farther  up  the  river  down  to  Mandalay.  The 
city  is  now  controlled  by  the  British,  and  the  palaces  of 
the  king  were  for  a  long  time  used  as  government  offices. 

In  Mandalay  we  see 
people  belonging  to 
several  of  the  different 
tribes  which  make  up 
the  population  of  inte- 
rior Burma.  We  find  the 
Karens',  who  to  a  large 
extent  worship  good  and 
evil  spirits;  the  Shans, 
who  have  curious  cus- 
toms of  their  own  ;  and 
a  number  of  hill  tribes, 
who  load  themselves 
down  with  brass  jewelry, 
and  are  half  savage  in 
their  ways  of  living. 

We  have  discovered 
that  Farther  India  is 
almost  a  little  world  of 
its  own,  and  we  long  for  the  strange  things  which  we  are 
yet  to  find  in  India  itself.  We  sail  back  to  Rangun  and 
take  a  ship  for  Hindustan.  We  steam  along  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  through  the  muddy  waters 
which  lie  at  its  head.  We  float  along  the  mouths  of  the 
Ganges,  and  cast  anchor  at  last  in  the  Hugli(hoo'gle)  River, 
under  the  spires  and  towers  of  the  great  city  of  Calcutta. 


Shan  Women. 


202 


INDIA. 


E c  >  i>?5S    Delhi  i   \^<^^,  ■■■T.,>>/v-';ei»SiL   '^ 


India  and  Indo-China. 


XXIV.     GENERAL   VIEW   OF   INDIA. 


THE  peninsula  of  Hindustan,  or  India  (without  Burma), 
is  almost  half  as  large  as  the  United  States.  If  we 
could  view  it  all  from  a  balloon  we  should  find  that  its 
shape  is  nearly  that  of  a  triangle,  the  base  resting  in  the 
Himalaya  Mountains,  and  the  sharp  southern  end  lying 
within  a  few  degrees  of  the  equator.  We  should  see  at 
the  north  of  the  peninsula  the  snow-clad  Himalayas,  and 
should  notice  that  its  central  and  southern  parts  are  a 
vast  plateau.  Between  this  plateau  and  the  Himalaya 
Mountains  we  might  cast  our  eyes  over  the  wide  plains 


GENERAL   VIEW. 


203 


of  northern  India  —  plains  so  low  that  if  you  could  sink 
them  but  a  few  hundred  feet  the  sea  would  rush  in,  and 
the  central  and  southern  parts  of  Hindustan  would  be 
one  great  island.  If  our  telescope  were  powerful  enough 
we  might  see  that  the  country  is  swarming  with  people. 
We  might  see  villages  by  the  thousand  and  great  cities, 
the  names  of  which  we  seldom  hear. 

India  contains  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  million 
people.  It  has  more  than  one  sixth  of  the  population  of 
the  world  within  its  boundaries,  and  upon  some  parts  of  it 
the  people  are  crowded  more  closely  together  than  upon 
any  other  part  of  the  earth. 

India  is  a  land  of  many  races.  The  most  of  its  people, 
though  their  skins  are  dark,  have  features  as  regular  in 
their  shape  as  our  own,  and  India  is  said  to  have  been  the 
cradle  of  the  race  from  which  we  sprang. 

The  people  of  India  are  of  different  religions.  The 
rich  island  of  Ceylon,  off  the  southern  end  of  Hindustan, 
is  one  of  the  centers  of  the  worship  of  Buddha.  There 
are  parts  of  Hindustan  which  are  populated  almost  entirely 
by  Mohammedans.  It  is  said  that  there  are  more  Moham- 
medans in  India  than  in  Turkey,  the  number  of  such  wor- 
shipers being  suj^posed  to  be  more  than  fifty  million.  The 
majority  of  the  people,  however,  are  Hindus,  who  worship 
idols  of  various  kinds,  and  whose  religious  superstitions  we 
shall  notice  everywhere  as  we  pass  through  the  country. 

The  peninsula  is  divided  up  into  many  states,  the  most 
of  which  are  governed  by  Great  Britain.  Some  parts  of 
the  country,  it  is  true,  are  still  ruled  by  rajahs,  or  native 
Indian  princes,  but  every  such  prince  has  a  British  adviser 
at  his  court,  so  that  the  whole  of  Hindustan  is  in  some 
way  subject  to  the  United  Kingdom.  Many  Englishmen 
have  made  great  fortunes  in  India,  and  their  government 


204  INDIA. 

collects  in  taxes  from  it  the  enormous  sum  of  more  than 
two  hundred  million  dollars  a  year. 

This  is  a  very  valuable  piece  of  property,  is  it  not  ? 

And  still  England  got  this  mighty  estate  through  a 
pinch  of  pepper.  In  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the 
Dutch  controlled  the  most  of  the  Indian  trade.  Holland 
had  foreign  settlements  in  India,  and  one  of  the  chief 
articles  which  the  Dutch  ships  carried  from  there  to 
Europe  was  pepper,  which  then  sold  for  seventy-five  cents 
a  pound.  This  gave  a  large  profit  to  the  Dutch  merchants, 
but  they  were  not  satisfied,  and  they  doubled  the  price, 
making  it  ^1.50  a  pound.  The  English  merchants  said 
this  was  too  much,  but  the  Dutch  would  not  put  down  the 
price,  and  so  the  EngHsh  formed  a  company  to  build  ships 
of  their  own  which  should  bring  pepper  and  other  articles 
from  India  to  England.  This  was  the  famous  East  India 
Company,  which  gradually  drove  out  the  most  of  the  Dutch, 
and  from  which  the  British  government  got  possession  of 
the  great  peninsula. 

The  chief  ruler  of  India  is  now  a  governor  general,  or 
viceroy,  appointed  by  the  British  government.  The  gov- 
ernor general  has  a  great  deal  of  power.  He  lives  in  a 
fine  palace  at  Calcutta,  and  has  thousands  of  officials  under 
him.  He  has  control  of  the  armies  of  India.  In  all  the 
states  there  are  soldiers,  and  among  them  are  many  natives 
who  ride  upon  camels  and  elephants.  The  soldiers  of  one 
such  army  may  be  of  half  a  dozen  different  races.  The 
baggage  is  carried  on  donkeys,  bullocks,  and  camels,  and 
when  the  troops  pass  from  one  part  of  the  country  to 
another  they  form  a  mighty  caravan. 

The  British  have  greatly  improved  India.  When  they 
first  came  into  Hindustan  the  people  were  almost  as  back- 
ward in  civilization  as  the  Chinese.     Modern  schools  and 


GENERAL  VIEW. 


205 


colleges  have  since  been  established  in  many  of  the  cities, 
and  India's  exports  have  increased  more  than  sixty  fold. 
They  were  not  more  than  five  million  dollars  a  year 
when  the  English  first  began  to  get  control  of  the  coun- 
try, but  they  now  amount  to  about  three  hundred  million 
dollars  a  year. 


'  — who 


Great  Britain  has  introduced  its  postal  and  telegraph 
systems  into  all  parts  of  India.  We  find  post  offices  in 
quite  small  villages,  and  in  some  parts  of  the  country  the 
mail  carriers  go  about  upon  bicycles  to  deliver  their  letters. 
We  shall  note  a  curious  thing  about  the  telegraph  poles : 
that  they  are  iron. 

Why  are  they  made  of  iron  rather  than  wood? 


2o6 


INDIA. 


It  is  on  account  of  the  white  ant,  which  is  found  in 
many  parts  of  Hindustan.  These  ants  eat  up  anything 
made  of  wood,  and  a  swarm  of  them  would  chew  up  a 
telegraph  pole  like  those  used  in  America  in  a  single  night. 
But  how  shall  we  travel  ?  Shall  we  take  camels  or  ele- 
phants, or  shall  we  have  to  rely  on  the  rivers  as  we  did  in 
our  journey  through  China  .-• 

No.  The  British  have  built  railroads  connecting  all  the 
great  cities  of  Hindustan.     We  can  ride  over  the  country 

almost  as  rapidly  as  we 
travel  at  home.  There 
are  about  nineteen  thou- 
sand miles  of  railroads 
in  India,  the  most  of 
which  belong  to  the  gov- 
ernment. The  Indian 
cars  are  much  like  our 
own,  except  that  the  seats 
are  long  benches  run- 
ning lengthwise  through 
the  cars. 

Can  we  travel  at  night  .-• 
Yes,  but  there  are  no 
sleeping  cars.  We  shall  have  to  carry  our  bedding  and 
rush  for  the  seats,  for  the  man  who  first  gets  his  bedding 
down  upon  a  bench  has  the  right  to  it.  If  we  get  there 
too  late  we  shall  be  crowded  up  to  the  ends  of  the  benches 
and  have  to  sleep  as  best  we  can. 

It  is  only  the  first-  and  second-class  cars  that  have  what 
we  should  call  comfortable  accommodations.  We  find  the 
third-class  cars  reserved  for  the  natives.  They  pay  less 
than  half  a  cent  a  mile  to  ride,  but  they  are  packed  in  so 
tightly  upon  the  seats  that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  them 


t.-C*!i 


A  Native  Mail  Carrier. 


GENERAL   VIEW.  20/ 

to  move.  The  first-class  fares  are  much  cheaper  than  those 
of  our  railroads.  All  the  trains  have  native  conductors. 
Tall,  dark-faced  men  in  turbans  take  up  our  tickets,  and 
we  have  some  curious  experiences  with  them. 

We  are  amused  at  the  queer  things  we  see  on  the  freight 
cars.  There  is  one  loaded  with  camels,  and  there  is 
another  in  which  a  little  baby  elephant  is  shut  off  in  a  pen 
from  the  rest  of  the  freight.  The  conductor  tells  us  that 
elephant  calves  are  charged  for  at  the  rate  of  six  cents  a 
mile,  and  we  wonder  what  other  animals  pay. 

In  the  baggage  cars  we  find  that  there  are  compart- 
ments, or  boxes,  for  cats,  monkeys,  rabbits,  guinea  pigs, 
and  dogs.  All  these  animals  are  classed  as  dogs,  and 
paid  for  at  the  dog  rate.  No  one  is  allowed  to  carry  any 
of  them  into  the  passenger  cars.  Not  long  ago  a  woman 
appeared  with  a  turtle  in  her  hand.  She  was  about  to 
enter  a  car  when  the  Hindu  guard  stopped  her.  She 
asked  him  why  she  could  not  take  her  pet  into  the  car. 
He  thought  for  some  time  and  then  replied,  in  his  ungram- 
matical  English : 

"Yes,  Missy  can  take!  Cats  is  dogs,  and  monkeys  is 
dogs ;  but  turtles  is  fish,  and  there  is  no  rule  against  fish  !  " 

But  here  we  are  in  the  city  of  Calcutta !  What  a  curi- 
ous city  it  is !  Its  houses  are  of  stone  and  brick  painted 
white.  They  are  of  two  and  three  stories.  They  have  flat 
roofs,  and  doors  which  open  directly  out  on  the  street. 
The  streets  are  wide  and  well  kept,  for  Calcutta  is  the 
capital  of  India.  It  is  also  the  largest  city  of  the  country, 
although  Bombay,  on  the  other  side  of  the  peninsula,  is 
nearly  as  large,  and  there  arc  a  number  of  other  great 
business  cities. 

As  we  go  through  Calcutta,  we  are  surrounded  with 
curious  sights.     Naked  babies  play  in  the  streets.     Men 


208  INDIA. 

dressed  in  little  more  than  a  long  cotton  cloth  which  they 
have  wrapped  about  their  waists  go  on  the  trot  carrying 
burdens  to  and  fro.  Vehicles  such  as  you  will  see  only  in 
India  are  driven  rapidly  this  way  and  that.  Th£re  are 
carts  drawn  by  bullocks  with  humps  on  their  backs. 
There  are  cabs  known  as  gharries  (gar'rez)  pulled  by  lean 
horses  and  driven  by  coachmen  wearing  white  gowns  and 
bright-colored  turbans.  There  are  carriages  drawn  by 
magnificent  horses,  each  with  a  coachman  and  footman 
riding  on  the  box  and  one  or  two  servants  standing  on 
the  step  behind.  The  most  of  these  carriages  contain 
Indian  princes  from  neighboring  states  who  are  living 
for  the  time  in  the  city,  or  they  may  be  carrying  the 
families  of  rich  British  officers. 

We  see  fat  Hindu  priests  known  as  Brahmans,  dressed 
in  white  cotton,  walking  slowly  along,  and  there  are 
Hindu  servants  in  all  sorts  of  costumes  running  to  and 
fro  through  the  streets. 

There  comes  a  Parsee  from  Bombay !  His  face  is  the 
color  of  cream,  and  he  wears  a  brimless  hat  which  looks 
like  an  inverted  coal  scuttle.  His  coat  is  much  like  the 
frock  coat  worn  in  America,  but  it  is  buttoned  up  tight  to 
his  throat.  The  Parsees  are  merchants,  and  they  are 
among  the  richest  people  of  India.  They  have  a  curious 
religion,  connected  with  which  is  the  giving  of  their  bodies 
to  be  eaten  by  vultures  after  they  are  dead. 

As  we  go  on  we  see  Mohammedans  in  turbans  and 
gowns.  We  see  black-faced  men  from  south  India  who 
wear  little  more  than  a  piece  of  white  cotton,  the  size  of  a 
sheet,  to  hide  their  black  skins;  —  and  mi.xed  with  all  these 
there  are  other  curious  characters,  each  of  whom  has  a 
dress  of  his  own,  and  of  whom  we  shall  see  more  in  our 
tour  through  the  country. 


FARMS  AND   FARMERS.  2O9 


XXV.     INDIAN    FARMS   AND    FARMERS. 

TO-DAY  we  leave  Calcutta  and  travel  for  hundreds  of 
miles  along  the  river  Ganges.  We  are  going  through 
the  plains  of  north  India,  and  over  some  of  the  richest  soil 
of  the  world.  The  sun  shines  brightly.  The  crops  grow 
luxuriantly,  and  birds  by  the  thousand  sing  in  the  trees. 
All  nature  seems  to  be  joyful,  and  the  only  poor  thing  we 
can  see  is  man. 

There  is  no  land  where  men  struggle  so  hard  and  get  so 
little  as  they  do  in  India.  There  are  parts  of  the  Ganges 
valley  where  three  hundred  and  twenty  persons  get  their 
living  out  of  every  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  where 
the  population  is  so  great  that  it  averages  more  than  twelve 
hundred  to  the  square  mile. 

The  Hindus  are  a  nation  of  farmers,  the  great  majority 
getting  their  living  directly  from  the  soil.  In  fact,  India 
has  many  more  farmers  than  we  have  men,  women,  and 
children  in  the  United  States.  The  farmers  raise  all 
kinds  of  crops.  They  grow  wheat  which  competes  with 
ours  in  the  markets  of  Europe.  Their  cotton  is  mi.xed 
with  that  from  our  Southern  States  in  many  of  the  great 
factories  of  the  world,  and  they  raise  quantities  of  coffee, 
spices,  indigo,  and  opium. 

You  would  naturally  think  such  people  would  be  rich. 
We  find  them  terribly  poor.  The  clothing  of  the  men.  as 
they  work  in  the  fields,  is  little  more  than  a  strip  of  white 
cotton  five  yards  long  which  they  wrap  about  their  bodies 
and  pull  between  their  legs,  fastening  the  end  at  the  waist. 
In  addition  to  this  many  wear  cotton  jackets,  and  sometimes 
an  additional  strip  of  cloth  which  thov  wind  about  their 
shoulders.     Both  men  and  women   look   as    though  they 


2IO 


INDIA. 


had  taken  the  sheets  from  their  beds  to  wrap  about  them 
as  clothing.  A  woman  usually  holds  the  sheet  over  her 
face  to  hide  it  from  the  men,  leaving  only  a  crack  through 
which  we  see  one  of  her  black  eyes  looking  out.     The 

women  sometimes  have  little 
sleeveless  jackets  of  cotton 
which  reach  just  below  the 
armpits,  and  under  which 
there  is  a  skirt  which  falls 
to  their  ankles. 

Almost  all  of  the  people 
go  barefooted.  The  men  are 
barelegged,  and  as  we  look 
we  see  that  the  working 
people  of  north  India  are 
little  more  than  skin  and 
bone.  During  our  travels 
through  the  plains  of  the 
Ganges  we  shall  probably 
not  see  a  man  who  has 
calves  on  his  legs  as  big  as 
the  muscles  of  the  upper 
arm  of  a  healthy  sixteen- 
year-old  American  boy.  The  women  are  equally  lean,  and 
we  can  count  the  ribs  of  many  of  the  babies,  who  are 
usually  naked. 

The  poor  people  in  this  part  of  Hindustan  eat  just 
enough  to  keep  them  alive,  and  it  is  said  that  there 
are  millions  who  do  not  know  what  it  is  to  go  to  bed 
without  being  hungry.  Their  food  is  rice  or  millet,  and 
their  drink  is  water.  In  the  opium  districts  we  are  told 
that  the  farmers  sometimes  feed  their  children  opium  to 
take  away  their  hunger  and  to  keep  them  from  feeling  the 


Peasant  Woman  and  Children 


FARMS  AND   FARMERS. 


211 


cold.  Millions  of  men  in  India  support  their  families  on 
an  income  of  fifty  cents  a  week,  and  we  see  women  who 
are  working  in  the  fields  for  about  three  cents  a  day. 

The  farmers  of  India  do  not  live  upon  their  farms. 
They  cluster  together  like  bees  in  little  villages  of  mud 
huts.  These  villages  have  no  modern  improvements 
whatever.      The   average    hut    is    fifteen    or    sixteen    feet 


Fuel  Gatherers. 


square.  It  has  an  almost  flat  roof  made  of  thin  earthen 
tiles,  or  of  straw  thatch.  It  has  no  chimney,  and  the 
smoke  finds  its  way  out  through  the  door  or  from  under 
the  eaves.  Well-to-do  farmers  may  have  several  huts  with 
a  mud  wall  around  them. 

Upon  the  walls  of  most  of  the  huts  are  plastered  lumps 
of  brown  mud  about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  fat  buckwheat 


2 1 2  INDIA. 

cake.  We  see  tens  of  thousands  of  these  cakes  in  every 
town.  In  some  villages  they  cover  the  sides  of  the  huts, 
and  here  and  there  we  come  upon  great  piles  of  them 
which  have  been  dried  and  stacked  up  for  sale.  These 
mud  cakes  form  the  fuel  of  a  great  part  of  India. '  They 
are  made  of  manure  and  earth  mixed  together.  Timber 
is  very  scarce  on  the  plains  of  Hindustan,  and  the  cook- 
ing is  all  done  over  fires  of  this  dry  manure.  It  is  gath- 
ered up  every  day  by  the  women  and  girls  from  the  roads 
and  fields,  so  that  not  a  bit  goes  to  waste. 

But  let  us  look  inside  the  house  of  an  Indian  farmer. 
The  floor  is  of  mud  and  the  walls  are  unplastered.  How 
uncomfortable  it  is !  There  are  neither  tables  nor  chairs, 
and  the  family  squat  on  the  ground  at  their  meals. 

Where  is  the  bed .-'  It  has  been  put  outside  of  the  hut 
in  order  that  the  family  may  have  more  room.  It  is 
merely  a  network  of  ropes  stretched  on  a  framework  of 
wood,  with  legs  at  the  corners.  It  is  only  about  four  feet 
long  and  three  feet  wide,  and  the  Hindu  sleeps  upon  it 
with  his  legs  doubled  up.  If  he  stretched  them  out  they 
would  hang  over  the  end  of  the  bed. 

Sometimes  the  men  sleep  outside  the  houses.  The 
East  Indians  of  the  poorer  classes  do  not  use  nightgowns 
or  nightshirts,  and  in  our  walks  through  the  towns  in  the 
early  morning  we  see  very  few  bedclothes,  either  under 
or  over  the  black  forms  which  lie  upon  these  networks  of 
rope. 

What  are  those  curtains  hung  up  in  front  of  the  doors 
of  many  of  the  huts.?  They  are  to  keep  the  men  from 
seeing  the  women  who  are  within.  The  women  of  the 
upper  classes  live  in  the  back  huts,  or  back  rooms,  for 
many  women  are  secluded  in  India,  and  are  never  seen  by 
any  other  men  than  those  of  their  own  family. 


FARMS   AND   FARMERS. 


213 


The  farming  tools  arc  of  the  rudest  description.  The 
Hindu  plow  is  little  more  than  a  sharpened  stick.  It  is  so 
light  that  the  farmer  carries  it  to  and  from  the  fields  on 
his  shoulders.  The  furrows  are  mere  scratches  on  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  but  the  fields  are  gone  over  so 
often  that  the  soil 
is  ground  to  dust 
and  is  made  to  pro- 
duce very  large 
crops. 

We  see  men  doing 
everything  by  hand. 
There  the  people  are 
cutting  the  grain 
with  sickles.  The 
wheat  is  sometimes 
pulled  from  the 
ground,  the  straw 
being  saved  to  feed  the  cattle.  Outside  some  of  the  huts 
we  find  women  at  work  making  the  meal  or  flour  for 
the  family.  They  pour  the  grain  through  a  hole  in  one 
large  round  stone  which  rests  upon  another,  and  then 
turn  the  top  stone  around  until  the  wheat  or  millet  is 
thoroughly  ground. 

The  wheat-growing  districts  of  India  are  in  the  north. 
The  British  government  is  doing  all  that  it  can  to  increase 
the  production  of  wheat,  and  it  is  said  that  the  area  of 
Indian  wheat  farms  is  now  about  two  thirds  as  large  as 
that  of  the  wheat  farms  in  the  United  States.  The  gov- 
ernment has  constructed  great  irrigation  works  in  order  to 
make  the  country  as  far  as  possible  independent  of  rain. 
The  rivers  of  India  bring  down  from  the  mountains  every 
year  vast  quantities  of  rich  fertilizing  material,  and  wher- 


Plowing. 


214 


INDIA. 


" — and  then  turn  the  top  stone  around — " 

ever  their  waters  can  be  spread  over  the  land  they  give 
the  benefit  of  both  the  moisture  and  the  manure. 

The  people  of  India  can  raise  wheat  more  cheaply  than 
we  can.  They  spend  but  little  for  machinery.  The  wheat 
is  threshed  by  being  trodden  out  by  bullocks  and  buffaloes. 
They  have  no  barns,  and  they  pile  the  wheat  up  on  the 
ground  until  it  is  shipped  to  the  markets.  Men  can  be 
hired  to  do  farm  work  for  from  six  to  eight  cents  a  day, 
and  it  costs  the  farmers  but  little  to  live. 

One  of  the  most  curious  of  the  Indian  crops  is  indigo. 
Hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  are  devoted  to  it  in  Hin- 
dustan. Indigo  comes  from  a  plant  which  grows  to  a 
height  of  from  three  to  five  feet.  When  the  plants  are 
ready  to  flower  they  are  cut  off  close  to  the  ground,  tied 
up  in  small  bundles,  and  put  into  large  vats  of  water. 
In  about  ten  hours  they  begin  to  ferment,  and  the  water 
becomes  yellow.     It  is  then  run   off  into  other  vats,  in 


FARMS   AND   FARMERS.  21  5 

which  half-naked  men  stand  and  whip  the  fluid  with  long 
bamboo  sticks,  keeping  it  constantly  in  motion  for  two  or 
three  hours. 

After  a  while  the  liquor  turns  from  yellow  to  green,  and 
the  blue  particles  of  indigo  rise  in  flakes,  which  afterward 
sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  vat.  The  liquor  is  then  allowed 
to  settle,  and  the  sediment,  or  that  w^hich  goes  to  the  bot- 
tom, is  indigo.  The  water  is  drawn  off,  and  the  indigo  is 
boiled  and  pressed  into  cakes  to  be  shipped  to  different 
parts  of  the  world  for  use  in  washing  clothes,  making 
paints,  and  for  other  purposes. 

We  have  beautiful  poppies  in  our  flower  beds  in  Amer- 
ica. India  has  vast  fields  of  poppies,  and  we  travel  for 
miles  through  them  on  our  way  over  the  country.  The 
Indian  poppies  are  not  for  show,  however.  They  are 
raised  for  the  making  of  opium.  The  British  government 
controls  the  entire  crop  and  receives  many  millions  of 
dollars  every  year  from  the  sale  of  opium.  Every  Indian 
farmer  who  plants  poppies  must  first  get  the  permission 
of  the  British  officials  and  agree  to  sell  to  the  government 
all  the  opium  he  produces. 

The  poppy  seeds  are  sown  in  November,  and  the  plants 
are  plowed  and  weeded  from  that  time  until  about  Febru- 
ary, when  they  burst  out  into  white  flowers.  When  the 
flowers  have  become  full-grown  and  are  just  ready  to  drop 
off,  the  pods  are  cut  or  scratched  with  a  thin  piece  of  iron. 
This  is  done  in  the  evening.  In  the  morning  the  poppy 
juice  which  has  oozed  out  on  the  pod  is  scraped  off,  and 
this  juice  is  opium.  When  it  first  comes  from  the  pod  it 
is  of  a  milky-white  color,  but  it  gradually  changes  to  a  rose 
red. 

It  takes  a  great  many  plants  to  make  much  opium.  The 
farmer  rubs  the  scrapings  of  each  plant  oft  info  the  palm 


2l6  INDIA. 

of  his  left  hand  until  he  has  collected  several  ounces,  when 
he  puts  them  into  an  earthen  jar.  When  he  has  gathered 
his  whole  crop  he  turns  the  jars  over  to  the  government 
and  receives  the  regular  price  for  it. 

The  government  officials  take  the  jars,  and  from  their 
contents  manufacture  the  opium  of  commerce,  which  is 
shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  most  of  it  goes  to 
China,  although  some  comes  to  the  United  States. 

Opium  is  of  great  value  as  a  medicine.  The  effect  of 
the  frequent  use  of  it,  however,  is  much  like  that  of  whisky 
or  brandy.  Those  who  eat  or  smoke  much  opium  soon 
find  that  they  cannot  get  along  without  it.  They  become 
opium  drunkards,  and  it  destroys  their  bodies  and  minds. 

Another  plant  which  is  of  great  value  to  the  world,  is 
raised  in  large  quantities  in  many  parts  of  India.  This  is 
the  flax  plant,  from  the  fibers  of  which  linen  cloth  is  made, 
and  from  which  comes  the  strongest  of  our  sewing  thread. 
There  are  many  thousands  of  acres  of  flax  plants  in  India, 
but  they  are  not  raised  there  for  the  fibers.  The  flaxseed 
is  very  valuable.  The  plants,  after  growing  to  the  height 
of  about  three  feet,  burst  out  into  beautiful  blue  flowers, 
and  later  on  little  balls  of  flaxseed  take  the  places  of  these 
flowers.     Each  tiny  ball  contains  ten  seeds. 

The  seeds  are  flat,  oval,  and  dark  brown  in  color.  They 
shine  as  though  they  were  varnished.  Their  kernels  are 
very  oily,  and  when  pressed  they  yield  the  linseed  oil  of 
commerce.  This  is  used  for  making  paints,  oilcloth,  and 
other  things. 

A  great  part  of  the  linseed  oil  used  by  our  painters 
comes  from  India.  Is  it  not  strange  to  think  that  the 
houses  in  which  we  live  are  painted  with  oil  made  by  these 
curious  people  so  many  thousand  miles  away  on  the  other 
side  of  the  globe  .'' 


STORES   AND  TRADES.  217 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  Indian  fiber  plants  is 
that  from  which  jute  is  made.  During  our  tour  through 
Japan  we  saw  beautiful  Japanese  rugs  woven  from  jute. 
This  material  is  also  used  for  the  making  of  rope,  bagging 
and  other  coarse  cloth. 

The  jute  plant  is  a  sort  of  reed  which  grows  in  the  low, 
sandy  soil  along  the  banks  of  the  Indian  rivers.  The  seed 
is  sown  in  April  and  the  crop  becomes  ripe  in  August. 
The  plants  grow  to  the  height  of  twelve  feet,  or  twice  the 
height  of  a  man.  When  ripe  they  are  cut  off  close  to  the 
ground  and  are  thrown  into  water  in  order  that  the  outer 
skin  or  bark  may  be  rotted.  After  a  short  time  this  skin 
becomes  so  soft  that  it  can  be  peeled  off,  and  the  fiber  or 
wood  within  can  be  taken  out  and  washed.  This  fiber  is 
made  up  of  long,  silky  strands  which  can  easily  be  made 
into  thread.  The  fiber  needs  little  preparation  for  the 
market,  for  after  washing  it  is  put  up  in  bales,  and  is  then 
ready  for  shipment  to  other  part§  of  the  world. 

A  great  deal  of  cotton  is  raised  in  India,  and  we  shall 
find  large  cotton  factories  in  some  of  the  cities. 

XXVI.     THE   STORES   AND   TRADES   OF 
INDIA. 

THE  business  of  the  cities  of  India  is  done  in  bazaars 
much  like  those  which  we  visited  at  Rangun,  in  Burma. 
We  find  hundreds  of  little  stores  under  one  roof.  Each 
store  is  not  much  bigger  than  a  dry-goods  bo.\,  and  the 
dark-faced  merchant  within  it  ssjuats  on  the  floor  with  his 
goods  piled  around  him. 

There  are  streets  lined  with  shops,  each  about  as  large 

CARP.  ASIA  —  14 


2l8 


INDIA. 


as  a  good-sized  closet,  in  which  all  kinds  of  manufacturing 
go  on.  Such  establishments  are  open  during  the  day. 
Their  fronts  are  removed,  and  we  can  see  men  of  all  trades 
at  their  work.  We  pass  through  streets  walled  with  shoe 
shops.     The  shoemakers  sit  flat  on  the  floor.     They  are 


A  Business  Street  in  India. 

all  barefooted,  and  they  hold  the  leather  between  their 
toes  while  they  sew.  The  carpenters  also  use  their  feet  in 
holding  their  work,  and  they  saw  while  squatting  down  on 
the  floor. 

We  see  little  shops  not  more  than  six  feet  in  width,  in 
which  men  are  sitting  and  making  wire  of  gold  or  silver. 
The  strands  are  so  fine  that  at  first  we  think  the  wire  is 


STORES   AND   TRADES. 


219 


silk  thread,  and  cannot  believe  that  it  is  made  of  metal. 
Our  guide  asks  us  for  a  coin,  and  tells  us  that  he  will  have 
it  turned  into  wire.  We  give  him  an  American  twenty- 
five-cent  piece.  He  hands  it  over  to  one  of  the  black- 
faced  workmen,  and  within  a  short  time  it  has  been  made 
into  a  silver  wire  almost  half  a  mile  long.  There  are  a 
thousand  men  engaged  in  wiredrawing  in  the  city  of  Luck- 
now,  and  in  Delhi  we  see  dark-faced  Hindu  men  and  boys 
using  the  wire  to  embroider  ladies'  dresses  which  are  to  be 
sent  to  Europe  for  sale. 

The  Indians  make  most 
beautiful  embroideries, 
and  their  embroidered 
curtains  are  among  the 
finest  of  the  world.  Think 
of  cloth  so  expensive  that 
enough  of  it  for  a  lady's 
dress  costs  from  two 
hundred  to  five  thousand 
dollars  !  This  is  the  fa- 
mous kincob  cloth  which 
is  woven  at  Ahmadabad, 
in  north  India.  It  is  a  heavy  brocade  of  gold  and  silver, 
and  it  is,  perhaps,  the  most  costly  cloth  made  anywhere. 

Let  us  take  a  look  at  some  Indian  shawls.  The  cash- 
mere shawls  are  made  of  the  fine  wool  of  the  cashmere 
goat.  The  weaving  is  done  by  families  who  work  at  the 
trade  from  one  generation  to  another.  We  find  the  shawls 
very  expensive ;  some  cost  two  hundred  dollars  and  up- 
wards, according  to  size. 

Our  Hindu  merchant  has  other  shawls  of  all  kinds  and 
prices.  He  hands  us  one  and  asks  us  to  lift  it.  It  is  very 
light.      He  then  takes  it,   and  with  the  aid  of   his  clerks 


A  Hindu  Carpenter. 


220 


INDIA. 


opens  it  out.  It  is  as  large  as  a  bedquilt.  He  asks  us  for 
a  ring.  I  pull  one  from  my  little  finger  and  hand  it  to 
him,  when,  lo,  he  puts  one  end  of  the  shawl  into  the  ring 
and  draws  the  whole  shawl  through  it.  This  is  the  famous 
ring  shawl  of  India,  one  of  the  softest  and  finest  of  all 
woolen  fabrics. 


A  Shawl  Merchant. 


As  we  go  through  the  business  parts  of  the  Indian 
cities,  we  are  surprised  to  see  how  anxious  every  one  is 
to  sell.  Some  of  the  dealers  stand  at  the  doors  of  their 
stores,  and  put  their  hands  together  and  beseech  us  to 
buy.  They  can  speak  only  a  few  words  of  English,  but 
they  cry  out,  "Me  poor  man,  Sahib!  Me  good  man! 
Sahib  buy  something  !  " 

No  matter  how  fast  we  go,  the  peddlers  run  along  by 
our  carriages  and  try  to  thrust  their  wares  in  upon  us. 


STORES  AND  TRADES. 


221 


We  find  that  nearly  every  important  merchant  has  men 
about  the  hotels  who  ask  foreigners  to  come  to  his  shop 
to  trade.  Such  men  are  to  be  seen  also  about  the  bazaars. 
They  jump  upon  the  steps  of  our  carriages  and  beg  us  to 
go  to  their  masters'  shops.  They  all  say  that  their  places 
are  the  cheapest,  but  we  know  that  if  we  go  with  them  they 
will  get  a  commission  or  a  part  of  all  the  money  we  spend. 


"  It  is  made  of  the  purest  white  marble." 

There  are  many  such  men  connected  with  the  jewelrv 
shops,  and  we  soon  learn  that  the  making  of  jewelry  is 
one  of  the  great  industries  of  north  Hindustan.  The 
Hindus  have  been  noted  for  ages  for  their  fine  work  in 
gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones.  At  Agra,  in  north  India, 
stands  the  Taj  Mahal,  which  is  thought  by  travelers  to  be 
the  most  beautiful  building  of  the  whole  world.  It  is 
made  of  the  purest  white  marble.  When  it  was  completed 
its   interior  was    largely   inlaid   with    jewels  and   precious 


222  INDIA. 

Stones.  It  was  constructed  by  Shah  Jehan,  a  Moham- 
medan ruler  of  northern  India,  as  a  tomb  for  his  favorite 
wife. 

Shah  Jehan  was  the  ruler  who  owned  the  famous  pea- 
cock throne.  This  throne  was  made  in  the  form  of  a 
peacock,  the  feathers  of  which  were  of  precious  stones  in 
the  natural  colors  of  the  peacock's  tail.  Diamonds,  rubies, 
carbuncles,  emeralds,  and  many  other  kinds  of  jewels  were 
gathered  together  from  everywhere  for  it,  and  it  was  of 
such  value  that  it  cost,  it  is  said,  the  enormous  sum  of 
thirty  million  dollars. 

We  have  heard  of  these  wonderful  jewels  of  India's 
past,  and  we  see  that  the  women  almost  everywhere  are 
loaded  down  with  necklaces,  bracelets,  and  rings ;  so  we 
ask  to  be  taken  to  the  jewelry  shops.  We  think  of  the 
fine  stores  of  our  American  cities,  and  a  vision  of  plate- 
glass  cases  and  of  a  gorgeous  display  of  watches  and  rings 
comes  before  our  minds. 

What  do  we  find  .-' 

The  store  which  we  first  visit  is  little  more  than  a  hole 
in  the  wall.  It  is  about  ten  feet  square,  and  is  entirely 
open  to  the  street.  The  owner  of  the  store,  who  is  dressed 
in  a  long  gown,  does  not  look  very  rich,  and  we  think  our 
guide  has  made  a  mistake. 

The  merchant,  however,  asks  us  to  come  in,  and  offers 
us  a  seat  on  the  floor.  He  directs  a  servant  to  bring  a 
red  cashmere  shawl,  and  spreads  this  out  between  us  and 
him.  He  gives  another  direction,  and  the  servant  goes 
over  to  the  corner  of  the  room  and  brings  back  a  bundle. 
It  looks  like  a  lot  of  old  clothes  wrapped  up  in  a  dirty 
white  cotton  cloth. 

The  bundle  is  placed  in  front  of  the  merchant.  He 
opens  it  and  spreads  out  before  our  eyes  a  stock  of  gold 


STORES   AND   TRADES.  223 

and  silver  jewelry,  of  diamonds,  rubies,  sapphires,  and 
pearls  which  dazzle  our  eyes.  Upon  the  red  shawl  he 
lays  bracelets  and  strings  of  pearls,  rubies,  and  sapphires. 
Beside  them  he  places  a  necklace  of  diamonds,  each  of 
which  is  as  big  as  a  good-sized  bean,  and  to  these  adds 
strands  of  topazes  and  emeralds,  hanging  one  by  the  other 
from  a  great  gold  band,  or  set  in  curiously  carved  gold. 
There  are  rings  of  all  prices.  There  are  brooches  of  many 
kinds,  and  we  almost  gasp  as  we  see  the  fortune  before  us. 

We  pick  out  a  ring  and  bargain  an  hour  before  we  can 
buy.  In  India  there  are  no  fixed  prices,  and  it  is  usual 
to  bargain  in  making  a  purchase.  We  cannot  get  accus- 
tomed to  this  method  of  buying,  and  we  soon  learn  that 
it  is  best  to  say  just  how  much  we  will  give,  and  then 
walk  away.  We  seldom  go  more  than  a  few  steps  before 
the  Hindu  comes  running  after  us  with  the  goods,  and 
grudgingly  tells  us  that  we  can  have  them  at  our  own 
price.  The  Hindu  has  more  time  than  money,  and  he  will 
talk  all  day  for  a  very  few  cents. 

On  our  way  back  to  the  hotel  we  are  stopped  by  a 
wedding  procession.  We  are  surprised  to  learn  that  the 
groom  is  a  boy  of  fifteen,  and  that  the  bride  is  only  eight 
years  of  age.  The  groom  has  a  red  cloth  cap  on  his  head, 
and  is  dressed  in  tawdry  red  clothes.  He  is  riding  a  white 
pony,  and  with  him  is  a  crowd  C)f  barelegged  men  and 
boys,  his  relatives  and  friends,  who  trot  along  on  foot  as 
an  escort. 

The  little  bride  follows  behind,  but  we  cannot  see  her, 
for  she  is  shut  up  in  what  looks  like  a  large  trunk  covered 
with  red  cloth.  The  bo.\  is  hung  upon  a  pole  which  is 
carried  on  the  shoulders  of  men.  Behind  come  a  number 
of  women  who  arc  bringing  the  liride's  property  or  dower. 
One  group  carries  her  bed.     Another  holds  up  a  tray  upon 


224  INDIA, 

which  are  her  cooking  utensils,  consisting  of  three  or  four 
iron  pots  and  a  rice  jar,  which  altogether  would  not  be 
worth  more  than  $1.50  of  our  money.  We  learn  that  the 
bride  and  groom  will  not  live  together  until  the  girl  is 
about  twelve  years  of  age,  when  she  will  come  from  her 
parents'  home  to  that  of  her  husband's  and  be  married  for 
good. 

Thousands  of  girls  are  married  every  year  in  India 
while  they  are  still  babies.  Such  wives  do  not  live  with 
their  husbands  until  they  have  reached  the  age  of  ten  or 
twelve  years.  If  in  the  mean  time  the  husband  should 
die,  the  fate  of  the  child  wife  is  terrible. 

Hindu  widows  cannot  marry  again,  and  are  despised  by 
their  families  and  every  one  else.  A  widow  usually  lives 
in  the  house  of  her  mother-in-law,  and  the  members  of  the 
family  do  all  they  can  to  make  her  life  miserable,  for  it  is 
supposed  that  the  husband  is  happy  in  heaven  just  in  pro- 
portion as  his  widow  is  unhappy  on  earth.  She  cannot 
go  to  parties.  She  must  eat  by  herself,  and  must  cook 
her  own  food  apart  from  the  family. 

The  women  of  India  are  in  fact  the  slaves  of  their  hus- 
bands. They  receive  but  little  education,  and  they  have 
but  few  rights.  The  Hindu  wife  never  eats  until  her  hus- 
band gets  through,  and  she  takes  what  is  left.  The  poorer 
women  do  the  hardest  kind  of  work.  We  see  them  dig- 
ging in  the  fields,  breaking  stone  upon  the  roads,  and 
carrying  great  burdens  upon  their  heads. 

Such  hardships  prevail  among  nearly  all  the  women  of 
India,  with  the  exception  of  the  Parsees.  The  Parsees 
are  a  small  colony  of  people  who  Iwe  in  west  Hindustan, 
the  most  of  them  having  their  homes  in  Bombay.  They 
are  of  Persian  descent,  and  they  have  a  religion  and  life 
of  their  own.     Parsee  children  are  never  married  under 


WII.I)   ANIMALS. 


225 


A  Parsee  Family. 


twelve.  The  women  are  not  secluded,  and  they  can  go 
about  wherever  they  please.  The  Parsees  are,  as  a  rule, 
good  business  men.  They  are  very  intelligent,  and  many 
of  them  are  rich. 


o>V.c 


XXVII.     THE   WILD    ANIMALS    OF    INDIA. 


YOU  would  not  think  that  a  country  so  thickly  popu- 
lated as  India  could  have  many  wild  animals.  The 
peninsula  of  Hindustan,  however,  has  vast  jungles  com- 
posed of  forest  trees,  thickets  of  bamboo,  creeping  vines, 
and  growths  of  underbrush  of  that  dense  kind  which  is 
found  only  in  trojucal  countries.  The  jungles  cover  the 
lower  slopes  of  the   Himalaya  Mountains  for  many  miles 


226  INDIA 

just  back  of  the  rich  plains  of  north  India,  and  they  are  to 
be  found  here  and  there  upon  the  high  plateaus  of  central 
and  southern  India. 

In  the  jungles  fierce  tigers  roam,  panthers  have  their 
lairs,  and  jackals,  hyenas,  and  wolves  make  night  hideous 
with  their  cries.  The  wild  beasts  dash  out  now  and  then 
into  the  farming  districts  and  kill  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. It  is  estimated  that  three  thousand  persons  are 
eaten  every  year  by  wild  animals  in  India,  and  that  more 
than  nineteen  thousand  are  killed  by  poisonous  snakes. 
About  one  thousand  people  are  eaten  every  year  by  tigers 
alone,  and  in  a  single  year  sixty-one  thousand  cattle  per- 
ished from  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts. 

The  wild  animals  of  India  are  of  many  curious  kinds. 
There  are  wild  dogs  in  Assam,  on  the  edge  of  the  Hima- 
laya Mountains,  which  always  hunt  in  packs.  Twenty- 
five  or  thirty  of  these  dogs  go  together,  and  when  once 
a  pack  of  them  is  on  the  track  of  an  animal,  no  matter 
whether  it  is  a  deer  or  a  tiger,  that  animal  is  sure  to  die. 
They  will  follow  it  for  days.  If  it  comes  to  bay  they  will 
attack  it  at  once,  and  if  it  runs  they  will  pursue  it  until  it 
becomes  tired  out  and  falls. 

The  rhinoceroses  which  are  found  in  the  swamps  of  the 
Brahmaputra  valley  often  grow  to  be  six  feet  in  height,  and 
the  great  horns  above  their  noses  sometimes  attain  a  length 
of  more  than  a  foot.  There  are  crocodiles  from  eighteen 
to  twenty  feet  long  in  many  of  the  Indian  rivers,  and  there 
are  wild  elephants  in  some  parts  of  the  country. 

The  hunting  of  elephants  is  now  entirely  under  govern- 
ment control.  It  is  against  the  law  to  shoot  them,  and  who- 
ever captures  or  injures  an  elephant  in  India  without  a  license 
will  be  fined  an  amount  equal  to  one  hundred  dollars  and  put 
into  prison.     Elephants  are  caught  by  driving  them  into 


WILD   ANIMALS. 


227 


Stockades  or  great  pens  which  are  made  in  the  forests. 
The  process  is  very  dangerous,  for  if  an  angry  elephant 
can  get  at  a  hunter  he  will  jump  upon  the  man  and  crush 
him.  When  the  hunter  falls  to  the  ground  the  elephant 
kicks  him  backward   and   forward  between  his  fore  and 


Ayi^r.  j^'M^. 


Rhinoceros. 


hind  feet,  and  sometimes,  it  is  said,  by  means  of  his  trunk 
and  his  feet  tears  the  body  limb  from  limb. 

Jackals  abound  everywhere  throughout  India,  and  we 
often  hear  their  yells,  which  sound  somewhat  like  those  of 
a  screaming  baby,  or  of  a  man  in  anguish.  Jackals  look 
like  very  large  fo.xes.  They  have  jaws  so  strong  that  they 
can  crush  bones  between  their  teeth.  They  are  sneaking, 
cowardly  animals,  who  will  put  their  tails  between  their 


228 


INDIA. 


legs    and   run  away  at  the  sight  of  a  man,  though  they 
sometimes  attack  children  and  infirm  old  people. 

The  tiger  is  said  to  reach  its  greatest  size  in  the  jungles 
of  India,  though  there  are  enormous  tigers  in  Manchuria 
and  Korea.  I  once  saw  a  dozen  of  the  largest  Bengal 
tisrers  in  the  Zoological  Garden  at  Calcutta.  One  of  them 
which  measured  almost  twelve  feet  from  nose  to  tail  was 
being  fed  at  the  time.     Some  meat  had  been  put  inside  the 


^.|g#p|||f?firA»«fi 


'^ui 


Tiger. 


door  of  his  cage.  The  keeper  had  gone  away,  and  the 
great  beast  was  devouring  the  flesh,  v/hen  I  poked  my 
umbrella  through  the  bars  as  though  to  touch  the  meat. 
At  this  the  mighty  tiger  raised  his  head  and  sprang  at  the 
iron  bars  with  a  terrific  roar.  My  heart  sank,  and  I  started 
to  run.  As  I  did  so  the  keeper  came  and  told  me  to 
be  very  careful  of  that  tiger,  as  he  was  a  man-eater  and 
had  already  killed  one  hundred  people. 


WILD   ANIMALS.  229 

It  is  said  that  when  a  tiger  has  once  tasted  human  flesh 
he  prefers  it  to  all  other  food ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
the  tigers  I  saw  in  India  devoured  me  with  their  eyes, 
licking  their  lips  as  they  looked,  and  possibly  wondering 
how  good  American  flesh  would  taste.  A  single  tiger  is 
known  to  have  killed  108  people  in  three  years.  Another 
is  said  to  have  killed  on  an  average  80  persons  a  year, 
and  a  third,  only  a  few  years  ago,  killed  127  people.  It 
prowled  along  one  of  the  public  roads  of  India  for  many 
weeks,  stopping  all  traffic,  until  an  English  sportsman  came 
along  and  killed  it. 

The  tiger  usually  does  his  hunting  at  night.  He  often 
has  his  lair  in  a  jungle  near  a  village,  or  near  the  fields 
where  the  cattle  are  kept.  After  dark  he  creeps  out  until 
he  is  within  a  few  feet  of  his  victim,  and  then  with  a  spring 
seizes  it  by  the  throat,  often  twisting  it  about  so  as  to  dis- 
locate its  neck.  In  the  case  of  human  beings,  an  old  man- 
eater  will  sometimes  grab  a  person  by  the  shoulders  with 
his  teeth,  swing  the  body  about  over  his  back,  and  trot  off 
with  his  living  victim  into  the  jungle  to  devour  him  at 
leisure. 

The  tiger  is  very  strong.  He  can  strike  down  a  cow 
with  a  blow  of  one  of  his  paws,  and  can  drag  it  off  with  his 
teeth.  His  claws  arc  as  white  as  ivory,  and  almost  as  hard 
as  steel.  They  can  be  covered  at  will,  like  those  of  a  cat, 
and  they  are  drawn  in  by  the  tiger  while  he  is  walking, 
so  that  they  are  not  worn  and  blunted  by  being  rubbed 
against  the  ground. 

Tigers  are  not  brave  animals,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
those  who  have  tasted  human  flesh,  they  will  run  from 
man  rather  than  face  him.  When  hunted,  however,  they 
fight  to  desperation.  Elephants  are  much  used  by  the 
tiger  hunters,  and  a  tiger  often  springs  on  the  back  of  the 


230  INDIA. 

elephant,  or  jumps  up  on  his  head,  in  the  attempt  to  get  at 
the  men  who  are  riding  him. 

These  fierce  beasts  are  sometimes  caught  in  pits  and 
traps,  and  the  hunters  often  make  a  httle  platform  in  a 
tree  near  where  a  tiger  comes  to  eat  or  drink,  and  there 
watch  for  him  with  their  guns  loaded.  A  young  buffalo  or 
a  calf  is  usually  tied  near  the  foot  of  the  tree,  and  when 
the  tiger  has  sprung  upon  the  animal  the  hunters  shoot 
him. 

Hindus  are  very  much  afraid  of  the  tiger,  and  the  people 
often  leave  a  village  after  it  has  been  attacked  once  or 
twice  by  these  beasts.  A  single  tiger  sometimes  drives 
away  a  large  number  of  people,  visiting  a  town  night  after 
night  and  taking  off  a  man  or  a  baby  at  each  visit. 

We  shall  be  in  more  danger,  however,  from  snakes  than 
from  tigers  in  our  travels  in  this  part  of  the  world.  India 
has  some  of  the  most  poisonous  snakes  known  to  man. 
They  are  often  found  in  the  gardens.  They  live  in  the 
roofs  of  some  of  the  houses,  and  we  shall  not  dare  to  walk 
through  the  fields  without  watching. 

One  of  the  most  dangerous  of  all  snakes  is  the  cobra. 
It  is  not  a  large  snake,  being  seldom  more  than  four  or 
five  feet  long,  though  it  sometimes  grows  to  a  length  of 
six  feet  and  to  a  thickness  of  six  inches.  The  cobra  has  a 
small  head,  which  it  expands  into  the  shape  of  a  hood 
when  it  is  angry.  It  rises  on  its  tail  when  it  strikes.  Its 
bite  is  almost  sure  death,  few  persons  ever  recovering  from 
it.  The  cobra  cannot  move  very  fast,  and  cannot,  it  is 
said,  strike  a  distance  greater  than  its  own  length. 

An  English  lady  describes  a  curious  experience  that  she 
had  with  a  cobra.  She  was  writing  one  day  at  her  desk  in 
her  Indian  home  to  her  friends  in  England,  when  all  at 
once  she  felt  as  though  somebody  was  looking  at  her  from 


WILD   ANIMALS. 


231 


behind.  She  glanced  around  twice,  but  could  see  nothing. 
At  last,  on  the  floor,  she  saw  a  cobra  raising  its  hood-shaped 
head  and  just  about  to  spring  at  her.  She  jumped  upon 
the  table  and  screamed  for  her  servants,  who  rushed  in  and 
killed  the  snake. 

Many  of  the  Hindu  jugglers  are  also  snake  tamers,  and 
they  are  among  the  most  skillful  of  their  kind  in  the  world. 


Snake  Charmers. 

We  shall  meet  them  in  all  of  the  cities.  Each  wears  a 
couple  of  pieces  of  dirty  white  cotton,  one  of  which  he 
winds  around  his  waist,  and  the  other  over  his  shoulders. 
His  arms  are  bare  to  the  elbows,  and  his  clothes  are  so 
scanty  that  it  would  seem  impossible  to  conceal  anything 
in  them. 

I  remember  how  a  snake  charmer  once  frightened  me  at 
Delhi.  He  asked  me  to  hold  out  my  hand,  and  he  then 
placed  a  piece  of   brown  paper  ujjon  it.      He  next  took 


232  INDIA. 

up  a  flute  and  began  to  play,  looking  at  the  paper  and 
darting  out  his  eyes  as  though  he  saw  something  there. 
He  danced  around  me  for  some  time,  playing  all  the  while, 
and  keeping  his  weird  black  eyes  upon  my  hand.  Then  he 
started  back  and  looked  at  the  paper.  I  also  looked,  but 
could  see  nothing.  He  did  this  again  and  again,  dancing 
about  more  wildly  than  ever.  At  last  he  dropped  the  flute 
and  commenced  to  sing,  continuing  his  dance  and  pointing 
again  and  again  at  the  paper  upon  my  hand. 

All  at  once,  while  I  was  looking  at  the  paper  and  seeing 
nothing,  he  thrust  out  his  naked  arm,  and  clapped  his  bare 
hand  down  upon  the  paper,  and  snatched  out  of  my  very 
hand,  it  seemed  to  me,  three  great  cobras.  He  held  them 
up  before  my  frightened  eyes,  and  the  snakes  raised  their 
hooded  heads  and  darted  out  their  fangs  at  me,  and 
squirmed  and  wriggled  as  he  held  them.  I  jumped  back, 
for  the  cobras  were  within  a  few  inches  of  my  nose.  I 
could  not  tell  then,  and  I  do  not  know  now,  where  the 
snakes  came  from.  I  saw  the  trick  again  and  again,  but  I 
could  never  discover  how  it  was  done. 

It  is  said  by  some  that  the  jugglers  pull  out  the  fangs  of 
the  snakes  ;  but  this  is  not  true  in  all  cases.  A  short  time 
ago  an  Englishman  at  Benares  accused  a  juggler  of  doing 
this.  He  said  that  he  was  not  afraid  to  handle  the  cobras, 
for  he  knew  that  they  could  not  hurt  him.  The  juggler 
protested,  and  warned  the  man  that  the  snakes  were  dan- 
gerous. The  Englishman  thought  they  were  not,  and 
seized  one  of  them.  It  bit  him  in  the  arm,  and  within 
a  few  hours  he  died. 

A  juggler's  outfit  usually  consists  of  three  baskets,  ran- 
ging in  size  from  a  half  peck  to  a  bushel,  a  couple  of  cloths, 
a  little  string,  and  some  sticks.  He  has  three  little  wooden 
dolls  with  red  cloths  tied  around  their  necks,  and  he  says 


WILD   ANIMALS.  233 

that  these  are  the  gods  which  help  him  in  his  magic.  He 
sometimes  has  a  monkey's  skull  which  he  moves  to  and 
fro  over  the  articles  he  is  using,  as  though  calling  the 
spirit  of  the  monkey  to  his  aid.  Another  assistant  in  some 
cases  is  a  little  black  boy  whose  clothing  is  a  turban,  or 
cap,  and  a  cloth  about  his  waist. 

With  this  boy  the  juggler  performs  the  wonderful  bas- 
ket trick  of  India,  which  has  become  famous  all  over  the 
world.  The  boy's  hands  are  tied  and  he  is  put  into  a  net, 
which  is  drawn  over  his  head  and  which  incloses  his  whole 
body  so  that  he  does  not  seem  to  be  able  to  move.  The 
net  is  tied  after  being  put  on.  The  boy  is  now  placed  in 
a  basket  about  two  feet  square,  or  just  about  the  size 
of  a  large  clothes  basket.  This  basket  has  a  lid,  which  is 
pulled  down  and  fastened  with  straps  running  around  it 
and  buckled  tightly  over  it. 

The  juggler  now  takes  a  long,  sharp  sword,  and  then, 
after  moving  the  monkey's  skull  over  the  basket,  and 
shaking  his  little  doll  babies,  thrusts  his  sword  again  and 
again  into  and  through  the  basket.  There  is  a  crying,  as 
though  some  one  was  in  terrible  pain.  It  is  the  voice  of 
a  child,  and  the  sword  comes  out  bloody.  You  hold  your 
breath,  and  if  you  did  not  know  it  to  be  a  trick  you  would 
feel  like  pouncing  upon  the  man.  After  a  few  moments 
the  basket  becomes  still.  The  juggler  sticks  his  bloody 
sword  into  it  a  few  more  times,  and  then  unbuckles  the 
strap  and  opens  it.  The  basket  is  empty.  The  boy  has 
disappeared.  The  man  then  cries  out  "  Baba,  baba,"  and 
in  the  distance  you  hear  the  voice  of  the  child,  who  soon 
comes  up  unhurt.  How  the  boy  gets  out  of  the  basket  or 
escapes  being  killed  by  the  sword  you  cannot  tell ;  you 
only  know  that  it  is  a  sleight-of-hand  performance,  and 
wonderfully  well  done. 

CARP.  ASIA — 15 


234 


INDIA. 


XXVIII.     BENARES,  THE   HOLY   CITY   OF 
THE   HINDUS. 


WE  must  take  an  early  start  for  our  travels  to-day. 
We  are  going  to  visit  Benares.     It  is  the  holiest 
of  all  the  cities  of  Hindustan.    The  Hindu  who  dies  within 

ten  miles  of  it  feels  sure 
of  going  to  a  better  life, 
and  if  he  can  bathe  in 
the  Ganges  where  it 
flows  by  Benares  he 
thinks  that  all  his  sins 
will  be  washed  off  for- 
ever. The  Ganges  River 
is  holy  throughout  its 
entire  length,  but  at  Ben- 
ares is  the  holiest  part, 
though  there  is  another 
holy  place  not  far  away, 
at  Allahabad.  Some  peo- 
ple believe  that  if  a 
man's  head  is  shaved  at 
Allahabad,  he  will  re- 
ceive a  million  years  in 
paradise  for  each  hair  which  falls  into  the  water. 

Benares  contains  about  two  hundred  thousand  people, 
and  pilgrims  go  there  in  crowds  from  all  parts  of  India, 
some  walking  for  hundreds  of  miles,  that  they  may  pray 
and  bathe  in  the  Ganges.  There  are  thousands  who 
have  moved  to  Benares  to  die,  and  we  shall  find  great 
numbers  in  the  temples. 

There  are  more  than  one  thousand  temples  in  Benares. 


Bathing  in  the  Ganges. 


BENARES,   THE    HOLY   CITY, 


^35 


They  line  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  for  miles,  and  by  tak- 
ing a  boat  and  floating  by  them  we  can  see  one  of  the 
most  curious  sights  of  the  world. 

We  start  for  the  river  not  long  after  daybreak.  The 
roads  leading  to  the  temples  are  already  filled  with  thou- 
sands of  dark  -  skinned 
men  and  women  clad  in 
long  strips  of  cotton,  col- 
ored white,  red,  and  blue. 
They  wrap  the  cloths 
about  their  bodies,  and 
pull  them  over  their  faces, 
so  that  their  mouths  and 
nostrils  are  covered,  and 
only  their  eyes  shine  out. 
The  air  near  the  river  is 
cold  and  damp,  and  is  not 
good  to  breathe  at  this 
time  of  the  morning. 

The  people  are  of  all 
classes.  The  legs  of  some 
of  them  are  bare  to  the 
knees,  and  only  the  richer 
people  wear  shoes.    Sonic  t, 

of   them    have  cashmere 
shawls  of  bright  red.    All 

the  women  are  gorgeous  in  jewelry,  and  even  the  poor- 
est have  their  arms  covered  with  silver  or  brass  bracelets 
from  their  wrists  to  their  elbows.  Upon  the  ankles  of  all 
are  silver  or  gold  bands,  while  not  a  few  have  rings  and 
bells  on  their  toes.  Many  of  them  have  little  rings  in 
their  noses,  and  we  see  some  nose  rings  which  are  as  big 
round  as  the  bottom  of  a  tin  cup.     Others  have  earrings 


236 


INDIA. 


hung  from  holes  running  around  the  outer  edge  of  the 
ears  from  the  lobes  to  the  tips.  All  carry  brass  jars  of 
different  sizes  and  shapes  to  bring  the  holy  water  of  the 
Ganges  up  to  the  temples,  or  back  with  them  to  their 
homes. 

We  push  our  way  through  the  crowds,  and  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  city  we  get  a  boat  in  which  to  float  down  the 


Temple  on  the  Ganges. 

river.  We  have  six  dusky  men,  clad  in  white  gowns  and 
high  turbans,  to  row  us,  and  we  direct  them  to  keep  near 
the  shore.  We  float  along  not  far  from  the  steps  leading 
from  the  river  up  to  the  temples  which  line  the  right  bank 
of  the  Ganges.  There  are  about  three  miles  of  these  steps, 
and  upon  them  thousands  of  half-naked  men,  women,  and 
children  continually  pass  up  and  down. 


BENARES,  THE   HOLY  CITY.  237 

It  is  a  wonderful  sight. 

Hundreds  are  bathing,  standing  in  the  Ganges  with  the 
water  up  to  their  waists.  Here  and  there  ledges  jut  out 
from  the  steps,  and  on  them  sit  worshipers  muttering 
prayers  as  they  lift  up  the  sacred  liquid  in  their  brass 
bowls,  and  pour  it  over  their  bodies.  The  women  are 
bathing  as  well  as  the  men.  They  cluster  together  in 
groups  by  themselves,  trying  to  keep  their  faces  covered 
so  that  the  men  may  not  see  them  as  they  splash  about 
in  the  water. 

As  we  float  onward  the  sun  rises.  Its  rays  make  the 
wet  skins  of  the  half-naked  men  and  women  shine  like 
polished  mahogany.  The  brass  jars  look  like  gold,  and 
the  jewelry  which  the  Hindu  women  wear  becomes  more 
gorgeous  than  ever  in  the  sunlight.  A  confused  noise  of 
prayers  and  gossip  comes  to  our  ears,  and  we  sit  and 
wonder  at  this  worship  of  the  waters  of  a  river,  which  is 
real  worship  to  millions  of  people. 

We  reach  over  the  edge  of  the  boat,  and  put  our  hands 
down  into  the  water.  It  is  cold,  and  we  wonder  at  the 
invalids  whom  we  see  among  the  bathers.  Lean,  sickly 
people  stand  and  shiver  as  they  pour  the  cold  water  over 
their  bodies.  Many  are  brought  here  to  end  their  lives, 
becau.se  they  think  that  if  thev  die  in  the  holy  Ganges 
their  life  in  the  next  world  will  be  happy. 

Among  the  bathers  there  are  many  gray-haired  men 
and  women.  As  we  look,  a  skeletonlike  old  man  stands 
upon  the  steps  of  one  of  the  temples,  with  nothing  on  but 
a  waistcloth  which  is  glued,  as  it  were,  by  the  water  to  his 
dripping  skin.  He  throws  upward  his  shriveled  arms,  with 
his  long,  snaky  fingers  outstretched,  and  through  chattering 
teeth  prays  to  the  sun. 

Just  beyond  him  is  a  woman  who  is  casting  flowers  into 


238  INDIA. 

the  river  by  way  of  worship.  All  about  us,  on  the  dryer 
parts  of  the  steps,  under  great  umbrellas,  sit  black-skinned 
priests  with  little  boxes  of  red  and  white  paint  before 
them,  to  mark  the  bathers,  as  they  come  out  of  the  water, 
with  the  emblems  of  the  heathen  gods. 

Our  boat  goes  onward.  We  see  smoke  rising  from  the 
banks  between  two  temples,  and  we  row  down  to  the  place. 
The  smoke  comes  from  fires  built  in  the  hollow,  a  little 
back  from  the  water,  where  the  people  are  burning  their 
dead. 

The  Hindus  believe  in  cremation.  Every  Hindu  would 
like  to  have  his  body  burned  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges; 
for  after  the  burning  the  ashes  are  thrown  into  the  holy 
river,  and  the  souls  of  the  bodies  so  disposed  of  are 
thought  to  go  straight  to  the  better  land.  The  burning 
of  bodies  is  done  everywhere  throughout  India,  and  we 
find  cremation  places  in  all  the  cities. 

The  temples  of  Benares  are  of  many  kinds.  India  is 
a  land  of  many  religions.  It  is  a  country  where  religion 
enters  more  into  the  life  and  business  of  the  people  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  A  man's  social  rank  is 
largely  fixed  by  religion.  The  people  are  divided  up  into 
classes  or  castes.  Men  of  each  caste  carry  on  the  same 
business,  from  father  to  son,  and  it  is  a  part  of  the 
religion  that  no  man  shall  do  any  work  not  belonging  to 
his  caste. 

In  parts  of  India  the  people  worship  stones.  Some 
hill  tribes  worship  spirits  who,  they  think,  live  in  certain 
trees. 

Two  of  the  most  famous  gods  of  the  Hindus  are  Siva 
and  Vishnu.  Siva  is  represented  as  wearing  a  necklace 
of  skulls  and  a  collar  of  twining  serpents.  He  has  five 
faces  and  four  arms,  and  holds  a  club  with  a  human  head 


BENARES,  THE   HOLY   CITY.  239 

on  the  end  of  it.  Siva's  wife  is  the  goddess  who  presides 
over  all  ills,  suffering,  and  death.  She  is  generally  repre- 
sented as  riding  on  a  tiger,  and  sometimes  she  takes  the 
form  of  Kali  (kii'le),  a  woman  with  a  hideous  face,  whose 
head  is  crowned  with  snakes  and  hung  around  with  skulls. 

One  of  the  most  famous  temples  of  Benares  is  the 
Monkey  Temple.  Monkeys  are  sacred  to  one  of  the 
Hindu  gods.  We  find  hundreds  of  them  in  the  temple. 
Sleek  and  fat,  they  climb  the  trees  that  surround  it.  They 
scamper  through  the  building  and  chatter  at  us  as  we 
come  in.  We  have  brought  some  nuts  with  us.  We 
throw  them  into  the  air,  and  the  monkeys  catch  them  as 
they  fall,  and  grin  at  us  between  the  bites  as  they  eat 
them. 

You  have  all  heard  of  the  sacred  cow  of  India.  It  is 
a  beautiful  beast.  It  differs  from  the  ordinary  cow  in 
having  a  great  hump  just  over  the  shoulders.  The  Hin- 
dus worship  such  cows.  They  never  kill  one,  and  a 
Hindu  would  as  soon  think  of  eating  his  grandfather  as 
of  eating  a  piece  of  beef. 

In  Benares  we  find  an  immense  temple  devoted  to  the 
worship  of  cows  and  bulls.  The  people  think  this  temple 
too  holy  to  allow  us  to  enter  by  the  front  door,  but  our 
guide  takes  us  in  through  a  door  at  the  back.  We  enter 
a  stone  court  of  about  the  size  of  the  ordinarv  barnyard. 
We  think  of  a  barnyard  as  we  look  about  us.  The  court 
is  walled  with  about  one  hundred  stalls,  in  which  there 
are  a  hundred  sacred  bulls  with  big  humps  on  their  backs 
and  with  ears  which  hang  down  like  those  of  a  rabbit, 
instead  of  being  almost  erect  like  the  ears  of  our  cattle. 
Some  are  white,  some  yellow,  and  sonic  dove-colored. 

Here  and  there  through  the  courtvard  a  harmless  bull 
moves.     The  sloppy,  dirty  stone  floor  is  filled  with  bare- 


240 


INDIA. 


footed  Hindus  dressed  in  bright  colors.  Many  of  them 
have  brought  water  from  the  Ganges  in  their  brass  jars. 
They  give  this  to  the  bulls,  and  stand  around  chanting 
prayers  as  the  animals  drink.  Other  worshipers  are 
bringing  food.  We  see  pretty  girls  carrying  garlands 
of  flowers  into  the  temple.  They  have  red  cashmere 
shawls  about  their  heads,  and  these  they  hold  over  their 
faces,  but  we  can  see  their  black  eyes  peeping  out  in 
front  through  the  folds.  They  feed  the  flowers  to  the 
bulls,  and  pray  as  the  animals  lazily  chew  at  the  queer 
food. 

Upon  a  platform  in  the  center  of  the  courtyard  are 
several  priests  who  sit  crosslegged,  with  boxes  of  paint 
beside  them.  As  the  people  finish  their  prayers,  they 
come  to  the  priests  and  pay  money,  whereupon  each  gets 
a  dab  of  red  or  white  paint  on  the  forehead.     These  paint 

marks  are  the  em- 
blems of  certain  of 
the  Hindu  gods,  and 
everywhere  in  our 
travels  we  meet  peo- 
ple so  spotted  with 
red  and  white  paint. 
On  our  w^ay  back 
to  the  hotel  we  see 
many  sacred  bulls 
and  cows  working, 
and  we  learn  that 
the  people  use  them  for  all  sorts  of  hard  labor.  They 
pull  the  plows,  and  in  some  parts  act  as  pack  animals. 
They  are  used  for  driving,  and  we  pass  the  carts  of  rich 
Hindus,  whose  bulls  wear  gorgeous  blankets  and  have 
their  horns  decorated  with  ribbons  and  flowers. 


"They  are  used  for  driving 


A  VISIT  TO  JAIPUR. 


241 


XXIX.     THE   NATIVE   STATES  OF  INDIA;   OR, 
A  VISIT  TO  THE   RAJAH  OF  JAIPUR. 

APART  of  our 
journey  to-day 
will  be  upon  ele- 
phants. We  are  go- 
ing to  visit  the  rajah 
of  one  of  the  native 
states  of  Hindustan. 
The  whole  of  India, 
as  we  have  already 
learned,  is  not  ruled 
by  Great  Britain. 
There  are  native 
states  which  are 
governed  by  rajahs, 
or  Hindu  princes.  These  rulers  have  gorgeous  palaces. 
They  have  thousands  of  servants.  Some  of  them  have 
armies  of  their  own,  with  camel  and  elephant  troops,  and 
they  ride  about  upon  elephants  when  they  go  in  state  from 
one  place  to  another.  They  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  sub- 
ordinate to  the  British  officials,  but  they  govern  their  states 
much  as  they  please. 

One  of  the  most  famous  of  the  native  rulers  is  the 
Nizam  of  Haidarabad,  who  lives  in  south-central  India, 
and  who  governs  a  country  as  large  as  Kansas.  His 
capital  city  contains  more  than  four  hundred  thousand 
people,  and  his  subjects  number  more  than  eleven  million. 

Another  great  native  ruler  is  the  Rajah  of  Jaipur.  He 
lives  in  the  western  part  of  Hindustan,  more  than  a  day's 
ride  by  railroad  northward  from  Bombay. 


A  State  Elephant. 


242 


INDIA. 


His  capital  is  said  to  be  the  finest  native  city  of  India, 
and  it  is  like  no  other  in  the  world.  Imagine  a  city  as 
large  as  Omaha  made  up  of  beautiful  two-story  buildings, 
all  of  which  are  painted  a  delicate  rose  pink.  Let  the 
houses  come  close  to  the  sidewalk  and  have  balconies 
hansfing;  over   it.     Let  arcades  run  below  from  house  to 


A  Street  in  Jaipur. 

house,  so  that  you  can  keep  out  of  the  sun  as  you  go 
along  the  street.  Let  the  streets  be  laid  out  regularly, 
crossing  one  another  at  right  angles,  and  let  them  be  as 
hard  and  as  well  made  as  the  roads  of  any  city  of  the 
United  States.  Put  a  great  wall  twenty  feet  high  around 
this  city,  and  let  rugged  hills  rise  at  its  back  so  that 
they  inclose  it  in  a  basin  ;  and  you  have  some  idea  of 
the  rose-colored  city  of  Jaipur. 


A   VISIT  TO   JAIPUR.  243 

We  must  add,  however,  to  these  miles  of  pink  houses  the 
curious  sights  and  the  strange  people  of  a  rich  native 
Indian  city.  We  must  fill  the  balconies  with  dark-faced 
men  and  boys  wearing  turbans  and  gowns,  and  Hindu 
maidens  with  their  faces  covered  with  shawls  and  their 
eyes  shining  out  through  the  folds. 

Below,  opening  on  the  arcades,  are  shops  in  which 
Hindu  merchants  squat  crosslegged  with  goods  piled 
around  them,  and  sell  the  countless  knickknacks  and 
other  things  used  by  the  people.  Out  in  the  street  is 
one  of  the  most  picturesque  crowds  of  men  and  beasts 
to  be  found  in  the  world.  There  are  dark-faced  men  and 
women,  some  rushing  here  and  there,  some  moving  along 
leisurely,  some  chatting,  and  others  pushing  and  yelling. 

There  are  hundreds  of  camels  stalking  along  through  the 
crowd.  Here  is  one  ridden  by  a  woman.  She  sits  astride 
of  the  hump.  Her  bare  feet,  resting  against  the  animal's 
sides,  show  out  below  golden  anklets,  and  one  of  her  black 
eyes  peeps  out  of  the  shawl  around  her  head  as  she  directs 
the  driver,  who  is  leading  the  beast,  where  to  go. 

There  is  a  camel  carrying  stones.  Immense  paving 
flags  as  big  as  the  top  of  a  table  are  swung  by  ropes  on 
both  sides  of  his  hump,  and  he  goes  along  with  his  lower 
lip  down,  pouting  like  a  spoiled  child.  At  the  side  of  the 
road  is  another  camel  being  loaded  w^ith  lumber.  The  men 
are  tying  long  rafters,  one  after  another,  to  his  back,  and 
at  each  addition  to  his  load  he  blubbers  and  cries  like  a 
baby ;  and  you  can  see  the  tears  rolHng  down  from  his 
proud,  angry  eyes.  Here  is  a  camel  ridden  by  a  turbancd 
soldier,  and  behind  him  trots  another  with  a  boy  on  his 
back. 

There  come  some  elephants.  There  are  a  dozen  of  them, 
each  ridden  bv  a  black  driver  who  wears  a  white  turban. 


244  INDIA. 

These  elephants  belong  to  the  rajah,  and  the  servants  are 
giving  them  their  daily  exercise. 

There  are  thousands  of  bullocks  carrying  hay,  stone, 
and  merchandise  through  the  city.  Here  comes  a  sacred 
bull  with  a  man  on  his  back.  The  rider  wears  a  turban, 
and  his  long  beard,  fine  gown,  and  red  shoes  turned  up  at 
the  toes  attract  our  attention  as  he  goes  by. 

Then  there  are  beautiful  Arabian  horses  ridden  by  the 
rich  men  of  the  city  and  by  the  rajah's  officials.  Some  of  the 
riders  have  gold  chains  on  their  necks,  and  their  arms  and 
fingers  are  heavy  with  gold.  They  wear  gold-erhbroidered 
turbans  and  costly  gold  vests,  and  their  legs  are  covered 
with  rich  cloths.  They  sit  up  straight  as  they  ride,  and 
by  the  side  of  each  runs  a  groom,  now  clearing  the  way 
for  his  master,  and  now  running  along  by  his  stirrup,  wait- 
ing for  orders. 

The  crowd  on  foot  is  as  gay  as  that  riding  upon  animals. 
Here  comes  a  party  of  Hindu  singing  girls,  who  shout 
out  strange  songs  as  they  dance  through  the  streets.  They 
are  dark-faced,  but  by  no  means  bad-looking.  Their  forms 
are  draped  in  gay-colored  cloths,  and  their  limbs  are  loaded 
with  anklets.  Behind  them  walk  some  Mohammedan 
women,  whose  dresses  make  them  seem  hideous  to  us. 
Each  wears  a  short  jacket  and  a  divided  skirt  of  red  or 
purple  cotton  which  is  full  at  the  waist,  but  which  fits 
close  to  the  skin  below  the  knees. 

What  queer  sights  are  these  we  see  on  the  streets ! 
Look  at  those  women  breaking  stones  at  the  side  of  the 
road !  They  are  clad  in  garments  of  dirty  white  cotton, 
but,  poor  as  they  are,  they  have  great  silver  rings  on  their 
ankles,  and  bracelets  of  silver  or  glass  on  their  wrists.  We 
see  women  and  girls  with  rings  in  their  noses,  and  there 
are  many  girls  with  rings  on  their  toes. 


A   VISIT  TO   JAIPUR. 


245 


Here  comes  the  street-sprinkling  machine  of  Jaipur.  It 
is  that  brown-skinned,  half-naked  man  with  that  bag  on  his 
back.  The  bag  is  made  of  a  pigskin,  and  it  holds  several 
gallons  of  water.  We  have  seen  men  like  him  in  all  the 
Indian  cities.  They  are  water  carriers,  and  the  business 
descends  from  father  to  son.  They  scatter  the  water  over 
the  street  by  holding  the  hand  over  the  mouth  of  the  bag 
and  swinging  themselves 
this  way  and  that  as 
they  walk. 

Passing  through 
scenes  of  this  kind,  we 
come  at  last  to  the  ra- 
jah's palace.  It  consists 
of  several  large  build- 
ings surrounding  courts 
paved  with  marble.  It 
contains  many  rooms 
which  are  carpeted  with 
magnificent  rugs,  and 
the  floor  of  one  great 
hall  is  covered  with  hun- 
dreds of  skins  of  tigers 
and  leopards,  the  hunt- 
ing trophies  of  the  rajah. 

But  we  are  to  have  an 
elephant  ride.  The  rajah  has  ordered  that  his  best  ele- 
phants be  brought  out  for  us.  We  are  going  to  spend  a 
day  in  a  jaunt  through  the  country.  We  have  not  much 
time  to  stay  in  the  palace,  and  we  ask  to  be  shown  to  the 
stables. 

We  find  that  the  elephants  are  being  made  ready  for  us. 
What   magnificent  creatures  they  are !     They  are  larger 


:et-sprinkling  machine 


246 


INDIA. 


than  any  elephants  we  have  yet  seen.  They  have  great 
brass  chains  about  their  necks,  -and  their  white  tusks — • 
which  are  cut  off  halfway  up  from  the  end  —  are  bound 
with  heavy  brass  rings. 

The    keepers   lead    them   out   into    the   courtyard,  and 
Hindu  elephant  drivers  make  them  kneel  down  in  order 


-we  have  to  mount  them  by  ladders.' 


that  they  may  be  saddled,  and  that  we  may  climb  on  their 
backs.  The  saddle  is  an  immense  framework  cushioned 
with  cloth.  The  beasts  are  so  large  that  even  when  they 
are  kneeling  the  saddles  are  high  from  the  ground,  and  we 
have  to  mount  them  by  ladders. 

Then  the  drivers  straddle  the  necks  of  the  elephants, 
each  putting  his  legs  just  behind  the  great  flapping  ears. 


A   VISIT  TO   JAIPUR.  24/ 

We  are  told  to  hold  ti|,^ht  to  the  framework  of  the  saddle, 
and  then  the  drivers  prod  the  beasts  with  their  steel  hooks, 
and  give  them  the  signal  to  rise.  The  great  elephants 
grunt  as  they  slowly  raise  us  upward,  and  we  go  off  in  a 
swinging  walk  through  the  city. 

We  are  as  high  up  in  the  air  as  though  we  were  on  the 
roof  of  a  village  house,  and  the  servants  who  run  along  on 
the  road  below  us  seem  very  far  down.  The  motion  is  a 
swaying  one,  and  at  first  it  has  the  effect  of  a  rolling  ship, 
making  us  almost  seasick.  After  a  time  we  become  used 
to  it,  and  soon  begin  to  enjoy  our  strange  ride.  We  go 
out  of  the  city  and  climb  up  the  sides  of  the  mountains 
near  by. 

The  road  passes  through  some  of  the  wild  country 
scenes  of  native  India.  The  people  are  very  kind  to  wild 
animals,  and  all  things  having  life  are  respected  by  them. 
Nothing  we  meet  seems  to  fear  us.  We  pass  through 
woods  in  which  monkeys  jump  from  tree  to  tree,  and  now 
.and  then  one  of  them  hops  across  the  road  in  front  of  the 
elephants,  frightening  the  beasts  so  that  they  jump  back- 
ward and  almost  throw  us  to  the  ground.  We  see  wild 
peacocks  spreading  their  gorgeous  tails  out  under  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  along  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  we  meet 
wild  hogs.  At  times  we  pass  between  hedges  of  cactuses 
twelve  feet  in  height,  and  not  far  from  Jaiinn-  we  skirt  a 
lake,  on  the  banks  of  which  we  see  half  a  dozen  great 
black  crocodiles  sleeping  in  the  sun. 

The  tame  animals  we  pass  on  the  road  are  quite  as 
curious  as  the  wild  ones  that  we  see  in  the  woods.  We  g:o 
by  droves  of  little  donkeys  so  loaded  down  with  great  bags 
and  baskets  that  only  their  legs  show  out,  and  the  loads 
seem  to  be  walking  off  by  themselves.  The  donkeys  are 
no  bigger  than  Newfoundland  dogs,  and  their  dark-skinned 


248  INDIA. 

drivers,  barelegged,  pound  and  yell  at  them  in  Hindustani, 
as  they  drive  them  along  without  either  bridle  or  rein. 

Here  comes  a  stage  pulled  by  a  camel.  It  is  filled  with 
black-faced  passengers  who  are  on  their  way  to  Jaipur  to 
trade.  We  pass  other  camels  ridden  by  men,  women,  and 
boys,  who  look  at  us  with  inquiring  eyes  as  we  ride  by  on 
our  elephants. 

Some  of  the  camel  riders  are  by  no  means  polite,  as  you 
may  see  from  the  shabby  trick  which  one  of  them  played 
upon  me  when  I  was  once  before  riding  upon  one  of  these 
very  elephants  of  the  Rajah  of  Jaipur.  We  were  several 
miles  from  the  city,  and  my  elephant  was  rolling  along  at 
a  good  round  pace.  The  flies  swarmed  about  us  by  thou- 
sands, and  half  covered  the  elephant.  They  persisted  in 
attacking  my  eyes  and  face.  I  had  to  hold  on  tight  to 
the  elephant  saddle  with  one  hand,  and  my  other  hand  was 
busy  in  carrying  the  umbrella  which  kept  off  the  rays  of 
the  tropical  sun. 

Just  then  a  long-legged,  black-skinned  Hindu  came  up 
on  a  camel.  He  was  tormented  by  so  many  flies  that  they 
covered  his  white  gown  and  made  the  skin  of  his  camel 
appear  almost  black.  As  he  drew  near  my  elephant  he 
took  his  whip  and  gave  his  camel  a  cut.  The  beast  came 
toward  us  on  the  trot.  Just  as  he  reached  us  the  Hindu 
unwound  the  shawl  which  formed  his  long  white  turban, 
and  with  this  swept  both  sides  of  his  camel  as  he  passed 
by.  The  flies  left  him  and  attacked  me  and  the  elephant, 
and  I  could  hear  his  laugh  ringing  out  on  the  air  as  he 
trotted  ahead. 

After  a  time  we  reach  the  famous  old  ruined  city  of 
Ambir,  and  then  ride  back  to  Jaipur.  At  the  hotel  our 
elephants  kneel,  and  we  crawl  down  the  ladder,  thoroughly 
tired  out  by  the  journey. 


IN    TIIK    HIMALAYAS. 


249 


In  the  Himalayas. 

XXX.  ABOVE  THE  CLOUDS;  OR,  NATURE 
AND  MAN  IN  THE  HEART  OE  THE 
HIMALAYA  MOUNTAINS. 


LET  us  now  leave  the  lowlands  of  India,  and  take  a  trip 
among  the  snowy  peaks  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains. 
They  are  the  highest  mountains  of  the  globe.  The  word 
Himalaya  means  "the  abode  of  snow,"  and  these  moun- 
tains are  crowned  with  eternal  frost.  The  tops  of  many  of 
them  have  never  been  reached  by  man.  Mount  Everest, 
in  the  Himalayas,  is  the  highest  mountain  of  the  world. 
It  is  29,002  feet  in  height,  or  more  than  twice  as  high  as 
Fusiyama,  the  sacred  snow-capped  mountain  of  Japan. 
Mont  Blanc,  the  tallest  of  the  Alps,  is  less  than  sixteen 

CAIU".  ASIA —  16 


2  50  INDIA. 

thousand  feet  high.  If  you  went  to  the  top  of  Mont 
Blanc,  and  from  there  in  a  balloon  ascended  straight 
upward,  you  would  have  to  rise  a  distance  of  more  than 
two  miles  before  you  would  reach  the  altitude  of  Mount 
Everest. 

The  Himalaya  Mountains  extend  in  the  shape  of  a 
double  wall,  with  a  wide,  irregular  trough  or  valley  be- 
tween them,  along  the  northern  boundary  of  Hindustan. 
If  you  could  stretch  the  Himalaya  range  over  the  United 
States,  beginning  at  New  York,  it  would  reach  almost  to 
Denver.  Its  average  width  would  be  nearly  as  great  as 
the  distance  between  New  York  and  Washington,  and  the 
mountains  of  the  southern  wall,  corresponding  to  those 
nearest  India,  would  rise  steeply  up  from  the  plains  to 
a  height  of  almost  twenty  thousand  feet,  or  nearly  four 
miles. 

The  Himalayas  have  scores  of  peaks,  each  of  which  is 
higher  than  Mont  Blanc,  and  at  least  forty  of  which 
rise  more  than  one  mile  higher  than  that  famous  mon- 
arch of  the  Alps.  It  is  said  that  you  could  drop  all  of 
the  Alps  into  some  of  the  valleys  of  the  Himalayas,  and 
at  a  distance  of  ten  miles  from  them  there  would  be  no 
perceptible  change  in  the  face  of  nature. 

We  read  much  about  the  glaciers,  or  moving  masses  of 
ice  and  snow,  in  the  mountains  of  Switzerland.  In  the 
Himalayas  there  are  moving  fields  of  solid  ice  from  thirty 
to  sixty  miles  in  length,  and  one  of  them,  thirty-three  miles 
long,  lies  between  two  mountains,  each  of  which  is  more 
than  five  miles  in  height. 

The  scenery  upon  these  mountains  is  unlike  that  of  the 
Rockies  or  the  Alps.  The  Himalayas  lie  on  the  edge  of 
the  tropics,  and  the  moisture  rising  from  the  Indian  plains 
gives  them  a  thousand  clouds  where  the  Alps  have  one. 


IN   THE    HIMALAYAS.  25  I 

As  wc  travel  up  them,  or  climb  about  their  rocky  recesses, 
we  see  great  masses  of  vapor  of  all  kinds  and  shapes 
chasing  each  other  over  the  hills  below  us.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  two  miles  above  the  sea  the  clouds  crawl  up  the 
steep  sides  of  the  valleys  and  climb  to  our  very  feet. 
Soon  they  wrap  themselves  around  us,  and  for  a  few 
moments  the  mist  is  so  thick  that  we  cannot  see  the  heads 
of  the  horses  upon  which  we  are  riding.  A  moment  later 
the  clouds  have  passed.  They  float  onward  and  lose  them- 
selves among  the  snows  above. 

During  our  travels  in  the  Himalayas  we  shall  often  have 
clouds  above  and  below  us.  In  the  hollows  in  the  sides  of 
the  mountains  we  shall  see  queer-shaped  clouds,  which  at 
times  look  almost  like  men  who  have  sat  down  for  a  rest. 
At  other  times  the  clouds  appear  to  have  taken  the  forms 
of  beasts,  and  in  single  file  race  through  the  air.  In  the 
morning  the  sun  gilds  the  clouds  so  that  they  become 
masses  of  fire,  and  at  night  the  moon  turns  them  to  curious 
creatures  of  silver  and  gold.  In  the  early  morning  the 
valleys  of  the  Himalayas  are  filled  with  mists,  and  as  we 
gaze  down  upon  them  from  the  mountains  we  seem  to 
be  standing  above  an  icy  ocean.  As  we  look  we  may  see 
the  sun  rise.  It  kisses  the  tops  of  the  highest  peaks,  and 
makes  the  snow  upon  them  shine  with  all  the  colors  of 
the  rainbow. 

We  shall  visit  these  wonderful  mountains  at  Darjiling, 
a  little  village  lying  under  the  shadows  of  a  number  of  the 
highest  Himalaya  peaks.  It  is  situated  in  the  hills  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  cli- 
mate there  is  cold,  although  it  is  not  very  far  north  of 
Calcutta,  from  which  we  make  our  start  to-day.  The 
plains  of  India  are  in  the  tropics.  We  ride  over  them  on 
the  railroad,  and  at  last,  near  the  foothills,  we  dash  into 


252 


INDIA. 


jungles  containing  great  thickets  of  bamboo  and  hundreds 
of  banyan  trees,  which  send  scores  of  sprouts  down  from 
their  branches  into  the  earth,  and  make  the  jungle  almost 
impenetrable.  There  are  thousands  of  curious  plants, 
there  are  poisonous  vines,  and  great  trees  so  thick  that  we 
can  see  only  a  few  steps  from  the  train  through  the  green. 

The  jungles  are  the  home 
of  the  tiger,  and  as  we 
go  through  them  we  may 
see  the  bright  eyes  of 
this  beast  staring  out  of 
the  darkness. 

At  the  foot  of  the 
mountains  we  take  the 
little  narrow-gauge  rail- 
road that  carries  us  up 
to  Darjiling.  It  is  only 
two  feet  wide,  and  it 
curves  in  and  out  among 
the  trees  like  a  great  snake.  Our  motive  power  is  a  little 
steam  engine  which  carries  us  upward  more  than  a  thou- 
sand feet  every  hour.  There  are  a  dozen  horseshoe  curves 
every  mile.  There  are  numerous  loops,  and  we  cross  our 
track  again  and  again  in  making  the  gradual  slope  which 
will  permit  of  our  being  carried  further  up  into  the  clouds. 
At  times  we  pass  precipices  covered  with  green,  down 
which,  out  of  the  car  windows,  we  can  look  for  a  thousand 
feet ;  and  then  we  climb  along  the  sides  of  the  mountains 
above  valleys  which  fade  away  into  the  broad  plains  of 
Bengal. 

We  soon  leave  the  jungle  and  find  in  its  place  huge  for- 
est trees,  some  of  which  arc  two  hundred  feet  high.  The 
trees  are  clothed  with    a  luxuriant  growth   of   moss  and 


"  Our  motive  power 


IN  THE   HIMALAYAS. 


253 


ferns  ;  and  wc  see  orchids,  curious  flowers  of  many  beau- 
tiful colors  and  shapes,  fastened  to  their  trunks  and  hang- 
ing from  their  branches.  As  we  rise  still  further  we  notice 
the  tree  fern.  This  has  a  tall,  round  trunk  from  ten  to 
twenty  feet  in  length,  from  the  top  of  which  immense  fern 
leaves  jut  out  like  the  leaves  of  a  palm. 

The  air  is  full  of  moisture,  and  the  vegetation,  though 
not  so  thick  as  in  the  jungle,  is  still  luxuriant.  As  we  rise 
still  higher,  the  color  of  the  moss  on  the  trees  changes 
from  a  brilliant  green  to  frosted  silver.  It  is  now  some- 
what like  the  Spanish  moss  which  is  to  be  found  in  some 
of  our  Southern  States. 
This  moss  clings  to  the 
limbs  of  the  trees  like 
a  coat.  It  hangs  from 
their  branches  in  clus- 
ters, and  makes  them 
look  in  the  distance  like 
a  forest  of  green  dusted 
with  silver. 

At  about  a  mile  above 
the  plains  we  find  many 
of  the  trees  of  our  Amer- 
ican mountains.  Roses 
are  blooming  in  the  vil- 
lages, and  the  sides  of 
some  of  the  hills  are 
covered  with  immense  tea  gardens,  much  like  those  we 
saw  in  Japan. 

The  tea  plant  grows  wild  in  some  parts  of  the  Himalayas. 
Its  natural  home  is  said  to  be  Assam,  one  of  the  north- 
eastern provinces  of  India,  where  travelers  say  it  sometimes 
reaches  the  size  of  a  large  tree.     It  is  supposed  that  the 


Tea  Plant. 


254 


INDIA. 


plant  was  originally  taken  from  this  side  of  the  Himalayas, 
and  introduced  into  China,  from  where  it  was  carried  to 
Japan. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  tea  of  commerce  was  pro- 
duced in  China  and  Japan  until  within  a  few  years.  The 
British,  however,  have  now  planted  tea  gardens  in  India, 


"We  see  groups  of  natives,  known  as  Leptchas— " 

and  they  are  raising  delicious  tea.  That  produced  in  the 
Himalayas  is  shipped  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  The  plant 
is  grown  also  in  the  island  of  Ceylon,  and  the  people  of 
the  United  States  now  use  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
pounds  of  Indian  tea. 

We  pass  a  number  of  villages  on  our  journey  up  the 
mountains.  The  cars  are  surrounded  at  each  stop  by 
curious    people.     We    see   groups    of   natives,    known   as 


IN   THE   HIMALAYAS.  255 

Leptchas,  who  have  faces  not  unlike  those  of  our  Ameri- 
can Indians.  The  men  are  short,  with  broad  chests,  big 
calves,  and  long  arms.  They  have  copper-colored  faces 
and  thick,  coal-black  hair,  which  they  wear  in  long  plaits 
down  their  backs.  The  women  have  two  braids  of  hair, 
and  both  sexes  wear  robes  of  striped,  coarse  cotton  cloth 
which  fall  to  below  their  knees,  leaving  their  arms  free. 

During  the  rainy  season  they  all  wear  high  boots  of  deer- 
skin, as  a  protection  from  the  terrible  leeches  which  are  then 
found  in  the  mountains.  These  leeches  are  so  numerous 
that  in  a  half  hour's  walk  over  the  grass  more  than  one 
hundred  of  them  may  be  found  to  have  fastened  themselves 
upon  you.  They  suck  your  blood,  and  they  have  been 
known  to  live  for  days  in  the  jaws,  nostrils,  and  stomachs 
of  human  beings,  causing  dreadful  suffering  and  death. 

The  Leptcha  women  load  themselves  with  jewelry,  and, 
like  the  women  of  the  other  hill  tribes  of  the  Himalaya 
Mountains,  are  fond  of  ornaments  of  all  kinds.  We  see 
many  girls  who  have  bracelets  of  silver  covering  their  arms 
from  their  wrists  to  their  elbows,  and  some  who  have 
heavy  rings  of  gold  and  silver  about  their  ankles.  Some 
have  flat  pieces  of  gold  hanging  from  their  ears,  and  not  a 
few  have  jeweled  buttons  fastened  in  the  flesh  of  their  noses. 

The  Bhutanese  are  another  hill  tribe  which  we  find  in  the 
Himalaya  Mountains.  They  look  not  unlike  the  Leptchas, 
and  they  dress  much  the  same,  except  that  they  paint  their 
faces  with  a  sort  of  brown  varnish.  Nearly  every  Bhutanese 
woman  wears  the  greater  part  of  her  fortune.  Some  have 
large  beads  of  coral  and  turquoise  bound  about  their  heads. 
Some  have  earrings  of  gold  so  heavy  that  they  pull  down 
the  lobes  of  their  ears  ;  and  the  poorest  are  covered  with 
jewelry  of  brass  or  stone,  if  they  cannot  afford  silver  and 
gold. 


256 


INDIA. 


The  women  of  the  Himalaya  Mountains  are  very  strong. 
We  see  them  digging  in  the  fields.  They  act  as  porters, 
carrying  great  quantities  of  grain  and  other  things  in  bas- 
kets fastened  to  their  backs.     Sometimes  even  babies  are 

so  carried. 

When  we  arrive  at  the 
station  of  Darjiling  we  are 
met  by  rosy-cheeked  girls 
who  offer  to  carry  our  trunks 
and  other  baggage  up  to  the 
hotel.  We  hesitate  a  mo- 
ment at  the  idea  of  allow- 
ing women  to  do  such  things 
for  us,  but  finally  consent, 
and  each  of  these  lusty  girls 
picks  up  a  trunk  weigh- 
ing perhaps  two  hundred 
pounds,  swings  it  upon  her 
back,  and  trots  off  with  it 
up  the  hill.  The  charge  is 
an  amount  equal  to  about 
five  cents  of  our  money. 

The  men  of  the  Hima- 
laya Mountains  are  fully  as 
strong  as  the  women.  Each  one  of  them  carries  a  great 
knife  in  his  belt,  and  many  of  them  are  very  fierce-looking. 
The  mountaineers  live  in  low  huts  not  much  larger  than 
dry-goods  boxes.  They  are  made  of  mud  and  stone,  and 
have  roofs  of  straw  thatch.  The  people  do  most  of  their 
cooking  out  of  doors.  They  eat  with  their  fingers.  They 
sleep  on  the  floor,  and  have  but  little  civilization.  They 
are  worshipers  of  Buddha,  and  are  much  like  the  people 
of  Tibet,  whom  we  shall  visit  in  the  next  chapter. 


-even  babies  are  so  carried.' 


TIBET— LAND   AND    PEOPLE. 


257 


XXXI.     TIBET   AND   THE   TIBETANS. 


THE  Tibetans  do  not  allow  foreigners  to  come  into  their 
country,  and  those  who  do  so  run  the  risk  of  losing 
their  lives.  A  famous  Hindu,  Baboo  Chandra  Das,  in  1890 
traveled  through  Tibet,  spending  some  time  in  Lassa,  the 
capital  of  the  country.  He  had  to  disguise  himself  as  a 
Tibetan  in  order  to  make  the  journey.  In  1846,  a  Catho- 
lic priest  named  Hue 
was  able  to  make  his 
way  through  Tibet  and 
to  spend  some  time  in 
Lassa  by  dressing  up  as 
a  Tibetan.  We  have 
our  latest  knowledge  of 
the  northern  part  of  the 
country  from  an  Amer- 
ican explorer,  W.  W. 
Rockhill,  who  entered 
Tibet  by  way  of  Mon- 
golia in  1892. 

The  Hindus  call  Tibet 
the  Roof  of  the  World.  The  country  consists  of  an  im- 
mense table-land,  about  one  fifth  the  size  of  the  United 
States.  It  lies  between  two  ranges  of  mountains,  and  the 
greater  part  of  it  is  more  than  two  miles  above  the  sea. 
This  plateau  of  Tibet  has  a  number  of  large  rivers,  and  it 
contains  both  fresh-  and  salt-water  lakes.  Its  largest 
stream  is  the  Yarn  Tsangbu,  or  Yarn  River,  which  flows 
for  seven  hundred  miles  through  southern  Tibet,  and  is 
supposed  to  empty  finally  into  the  Brahmaputra  River. 
The   Indus  rises  in  the  western   part  of   Tibet,  and  the 


J^^- 


<:'& 


A  Tibetan  Chief. 


258  TIBET. 

Yangtze  and  the  Hoang,  the  two  great  rivers  of  China, 
have  their  sources  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  country. 
Tibet  is  a  very  rough  land,  and  is  cut  up  by  several  moun- 
tain chains.  It  has  many  desert  plains,  and  northeast  of 
it  lies  the  great  Desert  of  Gobi. 

The  climate  of  Tibet  is  exceedingly  dry.  In  the  sum- 
mer, which  lasts  from  May  to  October,  the  valleys  are  hot, 
though  the  mountains  are  covered  with  snow.  In  the 
winter  the  leaves  of  the  trees  wither  and  become  so  dry 
that  they  may  be  ground  to  powder  between  the  fingers. 
Planks  and  beams  crack  and  break  from  the  extreme  dry- 
ness of  the  air,  and  the  Tibetans  sometimes  cover  the 
woodwork  of  their  houses  with  coarse  cotton  to  preserve 
them. 

There  is  no  danger  from  dampness.  The  Tibetans  need 
neither  refrigerators  nor  salt  to  keep  their  food.  Meat 
of  all  kinds  can  be  left  out  of  doors  without  spoiling.  The 
dry  air  sucks  up  the  juices,  and  the  flesh  soon  becomes  so 
dry  that  it  can  be  powdered  like  bread.  When  once  pow- 
dered it  can  be  kept  for  years,  and  mutton  cured  in  this 
way  is  a  common  food  in  Tibet.  As  soon  as  a  sheep  is 
killed  it  is  skinned,  cleaned,  and  hung  up  out  of  doors.  It 
quickly  becomes  a  dry,  stiffened  mass,  and  is  often  kept 
for  a  long  time. 

As  is  common  among  the  people  of  cold  climates,  the 
Tibetans  are  very  fond  of  fats,  and  one  of  their  favorite 
dishes  is  a  soup  made  of  brick  tea  mixed  with  salt,  butter, 
and  water,  and  cooked  into  a  thick,  fatty  broth.  After 
the  broth  is  taken  off  the  fire,  it  is  thickened  with  barley 
meal,  the  mixture  being  churned  together  in  a  little  tea 
churn.  When  served  it  is  ladled  out  into  bowls,  and  the 
people  knead  the  mush  into  dough  pellets  with  their  fingers 
before  eating  it. 


LAND   AND    PEOPLE. 


259 


Both  women  and  men  arc  fond  of  tobacco,  and  they 
use  it  largely  in  the  shape  of  snuff,  carrying  it  in  horn 
boxes  which  look  much  like  our  powderhorns. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  about  three  million  Tibet- 
ans living  upon  this  dry,  cold  Asiatic  plateau.  They  are 
divided  into  many  different  tribes,  each  of  which  has  curi- 
ous customs. 

Many  of  the  Tibetans  look  much  like  our  American 
Indians.  They  have  high  cheek  bones,  and  those  who  are 
exposed  to  the  sun  have 
copper-colored  complexions. 
None  of  the  men  have 
beards,  and  all  carry  pin- 
cers to  pluck  the  hairs  out 
of  their  faces.  Mr.  Rockhill 
found  some  tribes  of  Tibetans 
who  had  curly  hair,  and  others 
whose  hair  was  as  straight  as 
that  of  our  Indians. 

The  different  tribes  dress 
much  alike,  wearing  in  the 
winter  sheepskin  gowns  with  /| 
the  wool  turned  inward,  or 
so  many  other  furs  that  it  is 
often  hard  to  tell  where  the 
clothes  end  and  the  people 
begin.  In  summer  the  gowns  are  made  of  native  woolen 
cloth.  The  dresses  of  both  sexes  reach  from  the  neck  to 
below  the  knees,  and  are  tied  about  the  waist  with  woolen 
girdles.  The  people  are  fond  of  bright  colors,  and  have 
clothes  of  red,  purple,  and  yellow.  Both  men  and  women 
have  very  large  boots,  which  are  sometimes  made  of  red  or 
yellow  leather,  and  are  held  up  by  bright-colored  garters. 


Tibetan  Coat, 


26o 


TIBET. 


In  some  parts  of  the  country  the  men  shave  their  heads, 
and  in  these  sections  hats  are  always  worn.  In  northern 
Tibet  both  men  and  women  wear  caps  of  green,  red,  or  blue 


"  Both  men  and  women  have  very  large  boots—" 


cloth,  which  are  sometimes  faced  with  lambskin.  In  the 
winter  time  the  men  wear  pointed  caps  of  felt,  which  are 
often  covered  with  blue  or  red  silk,  and  which  have  large 

ear  flaps. 

Some  of  the  Tibetan  men 
never  trim  their  hair  except  to 
cut  it  in  front  so  that  it  makes 
a  fringe  just  over  the  eyes. 
Behind,  it  hangs  down  to  their 
shoulders  and  forms  a  sufficient 
protection  against  the  weather. 
In  some  places  the  hats  are 
high  and  shaped  much  like  those  of  Korean  gentlemen, 
with  fully  as  broad  brims,  and  with  much  bigger  crowns. 
These  hats  are  very  gorgeous  indeed.      Their  brims  are 


-the  hats  are  high  —  ' 


LAND   AND    PEOPLE.  26 1 

often  faced  with  red  or  blue  cotton  or  silk,  the  hat  being 
held  on  by  a  string  around  the  throat. 

Both  men  and  women  are  fond  of  jewelry,  the  men  fre- 
quently wearing  an  earring  in  the  left  ear.  Such  earrings 
are  sometimes  set  with  pearls  and  turquoises,  and  are  often 
two  inches  long.  The  women  wear  chains  of  gold,  silver, 
and  copper  about  their  necks.  They  wear  earrings,  some 
of  which  are  so  heavy  that  a  little  strap  is  tied  to  them  and 
passed  over  the  top  of  the  ear  to  take  the  weight  from 
the  lobe.  They  adorn  their  hair  with  many  kinds  of 
jeweled  trinkets,  plaiting  gold,  silver,  amber,  and  coral 
ornaments  in  with  their  braids. 

Some  of  the  Tibetans  live  in  tents  made  of  the  hair  of 
the  yak  or  mountain  cow,  and  others  have  rude  houses 
of  wood  or  stone.  The  houses  of  the  rich  are  sometimes 
of  three  stories.  They  are  built  around  a  simple  court, 
and  often  contain  a  number  of  rooms.  The  houses  of 
the  poor  are  generally  of  two  stories,  with  a  courtyard  in 
front  or  behind,  and  with  the  ground  floor  used  as  a 
stable. 

The  walls  of  the  houses  are  usually  put  together  without 
cement.  The  windows  are  little  holes  which  are  closed  at 
night  with  wooden  shutters.  The  roofs  are  flat,  those  of 
the  larger  rooms  being  supported  by  wooden  pillars. 
They  are  covered  with  earth  in  most  parts  of  the  country, 
and  are  often  used  as  threshing  floors.  The  ground  floors 
are  generally  of  earth,  but  those  of  the  better  class  are 
paved  with  stone  or  pebbles  set  in  clay  and  well  pounded 
down. 

The  Tibetan  houses  have  but  little  furniture.  The  peo- 
ple sit  on  the  floor,  and  they  sleep  upon  mats  or  skins. 
They  light  their  houses  with  lamps  filled  with  butter  in 
which  a  little  cotton  wick  is  stuck :    and  where  butter  is 


1 


262  TIBET. 

scarce  they  sometimes  use  chips  of  pitch  pine  which  they 
burn  on  a  flat  stone  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  As  a  rule, 
however,  the  Tibetans  go  to  sleep  as  soon  as  it  becomes 
dark,  and  use  no  other  light  than  that  of  the  sun.  Some 
of  the  houses  have  cooking  stoves  of  clay  which  are 
heated  by  little  fires  made  of  dry  manure. 

There  are  not  many  large  cities  in  Tibet,  and  it  is  only 
here  and  there  that  the  villages  are  of  any  size.  Lassa, 
the  capital,  is  said  to  contain  about  fifty  thousand  people, 
and  it  has  the  finest  buildings  of  the  country.  These  are 
monasteries.  The  Tibetans  are  Buddhists.  The  country 
is  ruled  by  Buddhist  priests,  or  lamas,  of  whom  there  are 
about  one  hundred  thousand  in  Tibet. 

At  the  head  of  the  lamas  is  the  Grand  Lama,  who  lives 
in  a  temple  just  outside  of  Lassa,  and  who  is  usually  a 
boy.  When  Chandra  Das,  the  Hindu  explorer,  visited 
Lassa,  the  grand  lama  was  only  eight  years  old.  Chan- 
dra Das  says  that  the  grand  lama's  temple  is  on  a  moun- 
tain, and  that  it  has  many  golden  domes,  and  is  wonderfully 
beautiful.  He  had  to  climb  up  ladders  to  reach  the  temple, 
and  he  got  down  on  his  knees  before  this  little  boy  priest 
whom  all  the  Tibetans  worship. 

The  Tibetans  are  very  religious.  They  are  always  pray- 
ing, and  they  have  machines  of  different  kinds  with  which 
they  pray  to  Buddha.  These  are  called  prayer  wheels.  A 
number  of  prayers  are  written  out  upon  a  strip  of  paper. 
The  paper  is  wrapped  around  a  stick  and  inclosed  in  a  little 
tin  or  brass  box  so  that  by  swinging  the  stick  the  paper 
turns  around  within  the  box ;  and  the  man  believes  that  at 
every  turn  he  gets  the  credit  of  as  many  prayers  as  are 
written  upon  it.  Sometimes  prayer  wheels  are  turned  by 
the  wind,  and  in  some  places  you  see  them  so  arranged 
that  the  wheel  is  made  to  go  around  by  the  water  of  some 


LAND   AND    PEOPLE. 


263 


creek  or  brook.  When  a  man  wants  to  pray  he  pulls  out 
a  peg,  and  the  wind  or  water  prays  for  him,  wiping  out 
a  sin,  so  he  thinks,  with  each  turn  of  the  wheel.  Nearly 
all  education  in  Tibet  is  confined  to  the  priesthood,  and 
Tibetan  books  are  almost  altogether  religious. 

One  of  the  queerest  of  Tibetan  customs  is  in  regard  to 
marriage.     Instead  of  one  man  having  several  wives,  as  is 


common  in  most  Asiatic  countries,  here  one  woman  has 
several  husbands.  When  a  Tibetan  girl  marries  into  a 
family,  she  often  becomes  the  wife  of  all  the  brothers  of 
her  husband.  She  is  the  head  of  the  domestic  affairs  of 
the  household,  and  she  is  expected  to  take  care  of  the 
home,  do  the  cooking,  and  work  in  the  fields.  In  the 
towns  nearly  all  the  shops  are  kept  by  women,  and 
the   Tibetan  wife's    opinion  is  usually  asked  by  her  hus- 


264  TIBET. 

band.  She  does  not  think  that  she  has  a  hard  time,  and 
a  rich  Tibetan  lady  whom  Chandra  Das  met  in  Lassa  told 
him  that  she  pitied  the  women  of  other  countries,  who 
were  so  poor  that  they  could  have  only  one  husband. 

The  Tibetans  have  mines  of  gold,  silver,  and  copper. 
Beautiful  turquoise  is  found  in  some  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, and  is  brought  to  India  for  sale.  The  people  raise 
small  quantities  of  wheat,  barley,  and  potatoes,  and  they 
have  some  fruits,  such  as  peaches,  grapes,  and  apples. 

The  Tibetans  are  stock  breeders,  however,  rather  than 
farmers.  Many  of  them  have  large  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats,  and  some  have  herds  of  yaks  or  mountain  cows. 
The  yak  is  used  for  carrying  burdens  up  the  hills,  being 
very  sure-footed  and  strong.  A  yak  is  about  as  large  as  a 
good-sized  cow.  Its  body  is  covered  with  a  thick  coat  of 
black  and  white  hair  about  two  inches  long.  It  has  horns 
like  those  of  a  cow,  and  its  tail,  which  is  like  that  of  a 
horse,  though  much  more  bushy,  is  in  many  cases  three 
feet  in  length.  The  yak  has  a  hump  upon  its  shoulders 
which  is  largely  composed  of  fat,  and  its  hoofs  are  like 
those  of  our  cattle. 

Another  beast  that  is  found  in  Tibet  is  the  musk  deer, 
from  which  comes  a  large  part  of  the  musk  perfume  of 
commerce.  This  animal  is  smaller  than  the  deer  which 
we  have  in  America.  The  musk  is  found  in  the  form  of 
fat  in  a  little  sac  beneath  the  skin  of  the  abdomen.  The 
sack  is  about  as  large  as  a  small  orange,  and  its  contents, 
which  are  of  a  dark  brown  or  chocolate  color,  look  much 
like  moist  gingerbread.  When  the  animal  is  killed,  the 
ball  of  musk  fat  is  taken  out  and  dried.  It  is  then  shipped 
over  the  mountains  to  India  and  China,  and  from  there  it 
is  exported  to  this  country  and  to  Europe,  where  it  forms 
the  basis  of  many  perfumes. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  IRAN. 


265 


XXXII.     PERSIA   AND   THE   PERSIANS. 


TRAVELING  westward  across  northwestern  India,  we 
ride  on  horses  and  camels  through  wild  mountain 
passes  and  over  high  plains,  on  our  way  to  Persia,  and 
finally  come  to  the  vast  Plateau  of  Iran',  which  includes 
Afghanistan',  Baluchistan',  and  Persia,  the  three  countries 
comprising  a  ter- 
ritory about  one 
third  the  size  of 
the  United  States. 
Afghanistan  and 
Baluchistan  are 
occupied  by  nom- 
ads, or  wander- 
ing tribes,  who 
own  large  flocks 
of  sheep,  goats, 
and  yaks.  They 
have  few  manu- 
factures, and  raise 
practically  noth- 
ing for  export.  The  men  are  straight-eyed  and  dark-faced. 
They  wear  turbans  and  gowns,  and  nearly  every  one  we 
meet  carries  a  gun  or  a  sword. 

The  people  of  these  two  nations  are  almost  altogether 
Mohammedans.  Afghanistan  is  ruled  by  the  ameer,  who 
lives  in  the  city  of  Kabul.  This  city  is  situated  about  a 
mile  above  the  sea,  and  contains  about  seventy-five  thou- 
sand people.  Baluchistan  has  a  ruler  called  the  khan,  who 
lives  at  Khelat,  a  city  with  fourteen  thousand  inhabitants. 

Commerce  is  carried  on  entirely  by  caravan.     There  are 


The  Plateau  of  Iran. 


PERSIA. 


A  Nomad  Family  and  House. 

few  roads  and  no  railroads,  and  though  both  countries  con- 
tain fertile  valleys,  they  are  for  the  most  part  made  up  of 
vast  tracts  of  mountainous  lands  and  deserts  occupied  by 
wild  animals.  We  may  see  herds  of  wild  asses,  and  if  we 
should  pass  through  the  forests  we  might  be  in  danger 
from  lions,  tigers,  leopards,  and  wolves. 

The  country  of  Persia  looks  very  small  upon  the  map, 
but  it  is  really  larger  than  France,  Germany,  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  put  together.  It  consists  of  a  high  table-land 
lying  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  above  the  sea,  with  a 
rim  of  mountains  around  it.  The  slopes  that  run  down  to 
the  Caspian  Sea  are  covered  with  timber,  but  the  hills  that 
slope  inward,  and  the  table-land  itself,  are  made  up  largely 
of  barren  deserts,  some  of  which  are  covered  with  salt, 
while  others  contain  great  quantities  of  sulphur.  One 
salt  desert  in  Persia  is  about  as  large  as  the  States  of 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   IRAN. 


267 


New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  A  great  part  of  the  land 
cannot  be  cultivated,  and  only  about  one  fourth  of  it  is  now 
farmed.  The  Persians  have  thousands  of  little  irrigating 
canals,  and  many  of  their  fields  are  watered  from  wells. 

Persia  produces  excellent  wheat,  barley,  millet,  and 
maize.  It  has  much  cotton,  tobacco,  and  opium.  Its 
fruits  are  delicious,  and  among  them  are  grapes,  peaches, 
oranges,  dates,  and  lemons.  Dates  are  sold  very  cheap, 
some  kinds  bringing  only  about  one  half  cent  a  pound. 


Street  Scene  in  Tabriz.  Persia. 


There  are  no  railroads  in  Persia.  We  must  make  our 
way  through  it  on  camel  or  mule  paths,  and  we  shall  have 
to  travel  in  caravans  in  order  to  be  safe.  We  find  that 
most  of  the  people  live  in  villages,  that  they  may  the  better 
defend  themselves  from  robbers  and  wandering  tribes. 
The  villages  are  usually  surrounded  by  high  walls.     Their 

CARP.  ASIA — 17 


268  PERSIA. 

gates  are  closed  at  night,  and  the  flocks  and  herds  are 
driven  in  before  dark  and  kept  inside  until  morning. 

The  houses  are  made  of  mud,  and  they  are  seldom  of 
more  than  one  story.  They  have  flat  roofs,  and  look  more 
like  great  square  or  oblong  mud  boxes  than  houses.  They 
are  built  along  narrow,  unpaved  streets  which  are  full  of 
dust  and  dirt.  Nearly  every  house  has  a  stable  beside  it, 
and  the  yard  of  the  stable  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  house. 
In  some  of  the  yards  we  find  the  women  molding  manure 
into  cakes,  such  as  we  saw  in  India,  and  sticking  them  on 
the  walls  to  dry.  There  are  few  trees,  except  on  the  moun- 
tains, and  such  cakes  are  the  fuel  of  a  large  part  of  Persia. 

Outside  of  each  village  there  are  threshing  floors.  These 
are  places  about  twenty-five  feet  square,  where  the  ground 
has  been  rolled  until  it  is  as  hard  as  stone.  The  wheat  or 
barley  is  cut  with  sickles  and  brought  from  the  fields  on 
donkeys  to  the  threshing  floors,  where  oxen  are  driven 
around  over  it  until  every  grain  is  trodden  out.  Then 
with  wooden  pitchforks  the  farmers  toss  up  the  straw  until 
the  chaff  is  all  blown  aside.  They  keep  the  straw  for 
feeding  the  sheep,  donkeys,  and  oxen. 

Donkeys  and  camels  are,  to  a  large  extent,  the  beasts  of 
burden  in  Persia.  We  see  droves  of  donkeys  everywhere 
carrying  heavy  loads,  and  on  the  long  desert  journeys 
everything  goes  upon  camels. 

The  Persian  sheep  produce  excellent  wool.  The  most 
curious  thing  about  them  is  their  tails,  which  are  very  fat ; 
a  single  tail  often  weighs  as  much  as  ten  pounds.  Mr.  S.  G. 
Wilson,  a  missionary  who  lived  a  long  time  in  Persia,  says 
that  the  Persians  often  milk  their  sheep  and  goats,  and 
he  describes  an  odd  custom  which  they  have  in  order  to 
make  the  cows  give  down  their  milk.  They  think  that  a 
cow  will  become  dry  if   it  knows  that  its  calf   has  been 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   IRAN. 


269 


taken  away,  so  they  try  to  deceive  the  cow.  After  killing 
the  calf,  they  take  its  hide  and  stuff  it  with  straw,  and 
place  this  stuffed  calf  beside  the  cow  at  milking  time. 

But  let  us  take  a  look  at  the  people  of  Persia.  There 
are  about  nine  millions  of  them,  and  the  most  of  them  have 
cream-colored  faces,  straight  eyes,  and  dark  hair.  The  men 
shave  their  heads  and  wear  long  cloths  wrapped  around 


-where  oxen  are  driven  around  over  it - 


them  in  the  shape  of  a  turban.  Many  wear  high,  cone- 
shaped  hats  of  rough  felt.  The  women  cover  their  heads 
with  Ted  handkerchiefs,  and  when  they  go  out  upon  the 
streets  they  always  wear  veils. 

Both  sexes  of  the  poorer  Persians  wear  cotton  gowns, 
those  of  the  men  falling  to  their  feet,  and  those  of  the 
women  reaching  only  to  the  knees,  leaving  their  limbs  and 
feet  bare.    The  women  of  the  well-to-do  class  have  a  street 


270  PERSIA. 

costume  consisting  partly  of  very  full  trousers  gathered 
in  about  the  ankles  and  tied  above  their  fine  leather  shoes, 
which  are  turned  up  at  the  toes.  Over  their  shoulders 
they  wear  a  piece  of  fine  cloth  about  two  yards  square, 
which  is  put  on  over  the  head  and  covers  up  the  whole 
person.  Such  costumes  are  of  blue,  black,  or  striped  goods, 
the  women  all  wearing  about  the  same  colors,  so  that  it  is 
hard  for  a  man  to  tell  his  own  wife  if  he  meets  her  on  the 
streets.  The  house  dress  is  different.  Indoors  the  women 
wear  divided  skirts  which  reach  to  the  knees,  and  loose- 
fitting  sacks  with  very  long  sleeves. 

Persian  women  have  to  keep  in  their  own  part  of  the 
house.  It  would  be  a  disgrace  for  them  to  be  seen  by 
other  men  than  those  of  their  own  family ;  and  before 
a  caller  enters  the  gate,  he  is  expected  to  shout  out  some 
such  words  as  "  Woman,  away ! "  in  order  to  give  the 
women  a  chance  to  fly  into  their  own  quarters. 

When  a  Persian  lady  of  high  rank  takes  a  walk  through 
the  streets,  she  often  has  an  attendant  with  her  who  goes 
before  her  and  orders  all  men  to  turn  their  eyes  in  another 
direction.  A  Persian  never  asks  after  the  wives  of  his 
friends,  and  if  a  caller  should  be  so  impolite  as  to  do  so, 
the  host  in  his  reply  would  not  speak  of  his  wife  by  name, 
or  as  his  wife,  but  would  refer  to  her  as  his  children's 
mother.  For  instance,  suppose  that  the  Persian's  name 
is  Smith,  and  that  he  has  a  son  named  John.  Upon  being 
asked  as  to  his  wife,  he  will  not  reply  "  My  wife  is  well," 
or  "Mrs.  Smith  is  well,"  but  may  say,  "I  thank  you,  little 
Johnnie's  mother  is  so-so  to-day." 

The  Persian  women,  in  fact,  have  very  few  rights,  and 
they  are  mostly  slaves  of  their  husbands.  Parents  arrange 
most  of  the  marriages.  Girls  are  often  betrothed  when 
they  are  young,  and  are  sometimes  married  under  ten. 


THE   PEOPLE  OF  IRAN.  2/1 

The  Persians  have  ideas  of  beauty  different  from  ours. 
Their  women  to  be  beautiful  must  be  fat,  and  a  face  as 
round  as  the  moon  is  much  desired.  They  are  proud  of 
high  foreheads  and  heavy  eyebrows,  and  they  sometimes 
paint  their  brows  to  make  them  look  thicker  than  they  are. 

The  poorer  women  do  all  kinds  of  housework.  They 
milk  the  cows,  prepare  the  fuel,  and  do  all  the  cooking. 
They  do  not  have  much  trouble  in  taking  care  of  the  fur- 
niture. The  floor  of  most  Persian  houses  forms  the  beds, 
the  tables,  and  the  chairs  of  the  family.  The  people  lie 
upon  mattresses  at  night,  using  no  sheets,  and  covering 
themselves  with  a  very  thick  quilt.  In  the  daytime  the 
bedding  is  rolled  up  and  put  away  in  a  corner. 

All  eating  is  done  with  the  fingers,  and  the  plates  of 
the  poorer  families  are  often  thin  cakes  of  bread.  A  man 
usually  eats  his  plate  after  he  is  through  with  his  dinner, 
and  during  the  meal  he  tears  off  a  piece  of  it,  and  by  bend- 
ing it  up  picks  out  bits  of  meat  from  the  soup  and  conveys 
them  to  his  mouth.  The  diet  of  the  common  people  is 
largely  made  up  of  bread,  cheese,  and  milk,  with  a  little 
meat  in  the  form  of  a  stew,  or  soup,  once  a  day.  The 
Persians  drink  a  great  deal  of  tea,  and  are  fond  of  coffee. 

Persia  has  not  many  large  cities.  Te-heriin'  contains 
about  two  hundred  thousand  people,  and  is  the  place 
where  the  shah,  the  despotic  ruler  of  the  country,  lives. 
There  is  a  wall  and  a  deep  moat  around  Teheran.  The 
city  has  many  fine  buildings,  and  among  other  institutions 
a  college  where  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  Persian  and 
Armenian  boys  are  educated  after  modern  methods. 

The  great  business  city  of  Persia  is  Tabriz',  situated  on 
a  plain  in  the  northern  part  of  the  country.  It  is  about 
as  large  as  Teheran,  but  it  has  not  so  many  fine  buildings. 
It  is,  in  fact,  made  up  of  a  vast  number  of  one-  and  two- 


2/2 


PERSIA. 


Story  houses  with  mud  walls  surrounding  them.  These 
are  close  to  the  streets,  and  the  streets  are  so  narrow  that 
in  going  through  them  we  have  to  crowd  against  the  walls 
to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  donkeys  and  camels.  The 
walls  are  from  ten  to  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  keep  the 
men  from  looking  in  and  seeing  the  women. 

The  business  of  the  Persian  cities  is  done  almost  alto- 


In  a  Persian  Bazaar. 


gether  in  bazaars,  much  like  those  we  saw  in  India.  The 
merchants  sit  in  their  little  shops  in  turbans  and  gowns,  as 
they  work  and  sell.  There  are,  it  is  estimated,  about  five 
thousand  such  shops  in  Tabriz,  the  most  of  which  are  not 
more  than  ten  feet  square.  Each  merchant  has  his  goods 
piled  around  him,  and  you  bargain  for  hours  before  you 
make  many  purchases,  because  the  Persian  always  asks 
several  times  as  much  as  he  expects  to  get,  and  will  not 
lower  the  price  without  much  talk. 


ARABIA  — LIFE   IN   THE   DESERT.  2/3 

In  our  travels  through  Persia  we  shall  find  that  the 
people  are  not  very  civilized.  The  officers  can  be  bribed, 
and  the  most  terrible  punishments  are  inflicted.  For 
very  small  offenses  men  are  often  whipped  on  their 
bare  feet  with  canes.  A  man  is  placed  on  the  ground, 
and  his  feet  are  fastened  into  a  board  which  is  raised  so 
that  his  soles  slant  upward  and  can  be  easily  beaten.  The 
right  hands  of  thieves  are  sometimes  cut  off.  A  few  years 
ago  a  famous  robber  chief  was  caught  and  put  alive  into 
the  mouth  of  a  loaded  cannon.  The  cannon  was  then 
fired,  and  the  man  was  blown  into  pieces. 

There  is  not  much  education  in  Persia,  and  little  more 
than  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  is  anywhere  taught. 
The  boys  go  to  school  in  the  mosques  or  temples.  The 
master  reads  the  lessons,  and  the  children  repeat  them 
after  him.  There  are  no  schools  for  girls,  and  very  few 
of  the  women  of  Persia  know  how  to  read. 


XXXIII.     ARABIA,    OR   LIFE   IN  THE  DESERT. 

OUR  best  way  to  go  to  Arabia  will  be  to  return  to 
India  and  take  one  of  the  steamships  that  sail 
weekly  from  Bombay  to  A'den.  Aden  is  the  chief  sea- 
port of  Arabia.  The  ships  going  from  Europe  to  India, 
Australia,  and  China  by  way  of  the  Suez  Canal  take  on 
coal  at  Aden,  and  the  great  steamers  which  carry  tea  and 
other  things  from  Asia  to  Europe  also  stop  at  this  port. 
The  different  tribes  of  southern  Arabia  come  to  Aden  to 
trade,  and  from  Aden  are  shipped  much  of  the  famed 
Mocha  coffee,  ostrich  feathers,  fruit,  and  other  things 
raised  by  the  Arabs. 


274 


ARABIA. 


Aden. 


It  takes  us  a  week  to  sail  from  Bombay  to  Aden.  Our 
first  sight  of  land  gives  us  a  fair  idea  of  many  parts  of  the 
Arabian  peninsula.  There  is  no  country  which  is  less 
inviting  and  more  desolate.  Imagine  a  great  harbor  of 
sea-green  water,  the  shores  of  which  rise  almost  straight 
upward  in  the  shape  of  a  ragged  mountain  of  brown  rock 
and  white  sand.  There  is  not  a  tree  or  a  blade  of  grass  to 
be  seen.     All  is  gray,  brown,  and  dazzling  white. 

The  city  of  Aden  itself  does  not  relieve  the  picture. 
Its  houses  are  white  and  brown,  being  mostly  one-  and  two- 
story  buildings  made  of  sun-dried  brick  and  covered  with 
plaster.  Along  the  edges  of  the  hills  there  are  huts  of 
the  same  brown  color  as  the  rocks  themselves.  Every- 
thing is  dusty  and  dirty,  and  as  soon  as  we  land,  the  hot, 
dry  air  of  the  desert  almost  parches  our  tongues,  and  we 
ask  for  a  drink. 


LIFE   IN  THE  DESERT. 


275 


We  find  that  water  is  worth  money  in  Aden,  and  that 
every  one  pays  for  all  that  he  gets.  It  rains  very  seldom, 
and  often  two  years  pass  without  a  drop  falling.  There 
is  only  one  well  in  the  city.  The  most  of  the  water  used 
is  made  by  machines  which  evaporate  sea  water,  leaving  the 
salt  behind,  and  condense 
the  steam  into  fresh  water. 
Aden  is  under  the  control 
of  the  British,  and  these 
machines  belong  to  the 
British  government,  which 
sells  the  water  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  gives  a  certain 
amount  every  day  to  each 
of  the  British  soldiers  who 
are  stationed  there. 

Arabia  is  one  of  the 
least-known  countries  of 
the  world.  It  is  about  one 
third  the  size  of  the  whole 
United  States,  and  a  line 
drawn  diagonally  across  it 
from  the  Isthmus  of  Suez 
to  the  town  of  Maskat,  on 
the  Arabian  Sea,  would  be  A""*^'*  ^"'^  "^"'"^^y  '"  ^='^- 

longer  than  the  distance  between  Boston  and  New  Orleans. 

This  vast  territory  has  no  railroads,  no  great  rivers,  and 
very  little  soil  that  is  good  for  farming.  Most  of  the 
southern  part  of  Arabia,  on  the  edge  of  which  is  Aden, 
has  never  been  explored  by  Europeans  or  Americans. 
It  is  known,  however,  that  Arabia  is  largely  made  up  of 
rocky  deserts  like  that  about  Aden,  and  that  a  great  part 
of  it  is  a  vast  plateau  more  than  half  a  mile  above  the  sea. 


2/6 


ARABIA. 


Arabia  contains  a  population  about  as  large  as  that  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  We  find  the  people  very  fine-looking. 
The  men  are  straight  and  well  formed.  They  have  dark 
faces,  coarse  black  hair,  and  aquihne  noses.     Here  comes 

one  of  them  leading  his 
camel.  He  wears  a  long 
white  cotton  gown  or 
shirt  which  is  open  at 
the  chest,  and  which  is 
bound  around  his  waist 
with  a  girdle  of  leather. 
He  has  a  goat's-hair 
cloak  of  black  and  white 
stripes  thrown  over  his 
shoulders,  and  his  head 
is  covered  with  a  bright 
yellow  silk  handkerchief 
which  is  tied  on  with  a 
black  band  of  twisted 
hair  about  as  big  around 
as  your  finger.  This 
band  is  bound  around 
his  head,  and  the  long 
end  of  the  handkerchief 
hangs  down  upon  his 
shoulders.  His  ankles 
and  feet  are  bare,  though 
his  feet  are  protected  from  the  hot  streets  by  sandals. 

Behind  him  comes  a  woman.  She  wears  a  gown  which 
is  open  at  the  neck  and  which  falls  to  her  feet.  A  piece 
of  dark  blue  cloth  covers  her  head  and  the  most  of  her 
figure,  and  trails  on  the  ground  behind  her.  She  does  not 
wear  the  veil  which  is  common  in  Persia,  nor  does  she 


Arab  Girl. 


LIFE   IN   THE   DESERT. 


277 


conceal  her  face  so  carefully  as  the  women  whom  we  saw 
in  India. 

The  inhabitants  of  Arabia  may  be  divided  into  two  great 
classes  —  those  who  live  in  tents,  and  those  who  dwell  in 
the  towns  and  villages.  The  tent  dwellers  are  generally 
known  as  Bed'ou-ins.  They  are  the  wandering  tribes  who 
pick  out  the  good  pasture  grounds,  and  upon  them  graze 


'The  tent  dwellers—" 


the  flocks  of  sheep  and  the  herds  of  camels  from  which 
they  get  their  living.  They  are  the  people  of  the  desert, 
and  we  shall  meet  more  of  them  as  we  go  northward 
through  Syria.  They  are  a  very  bold  race,  and  are  hos- 
tile to  strangers.  If  we  should  attempt  to  pass  through 
Arabia  we  should  have  to  go  upon  camels,  and  in  order 
to  travel  with  any  safety  we  must  pay  a  tribute  to  the 
Bedouin  chiefs,  or  sheiks,  to  keep  them  from  robbing  us. 


278  ARABIA. 

The  Bedouin  tents  are  generally  made  of  cloth  of  goat's 
hair  dyed  black.  A  tent  is  seldom  more  than  twenty  feet 
long,  but  it  usually  has  one  part  shut  off  for  the  women 
and  children.  There  is  no  furniture  to  speak  of.  The 
cooking  is  done  over  an  open  fire,  and  all  the  family  eat 
with  their  fingers.  The  Bedouins  wear  but  little  clothing. 
The  boys  go  naked  until  they  are  thirteen,  and  the  girls 
until  they  are  seven. 

Some  of  the  tent  dwellers  raise  a  little  wheat  and  barley, 
but  millet  is  their  chief  crop.  Millet  and  dates  form  the 
principal  food  of  the  Arabs.  The  millet  is  ground  to  flour 
and  made  into  cakes.  The  date  comes  from  the  date  palm, 
and  it  is  eaten  by  the  horses  and  camels  as  well  as  by 
the  people. 

We  have  all  heard  of  the  wonderful  Arabian  horses, 
but  in  Arabia  camels  are  much  more  important  animals 
than  horses.  They  carry  almost  all  the  burdens,  and  it 
is  upon  them  that  the  Bedouins  travel  when  they  move 
from  one  place  to  another. 

There  are  riding  camels  and  freight  camels.  The  riding 
camels  are  the  more  gentle.  Some  of  them  are  very  rapid 
travelers,  making  six  miles  an  hour  and  keeping  up  this 
pace  for  fifteen  hours  every  day  for  a  week  at  a  time. 
They  are  very  valuable  in  passing  through  the  deserts, 
because  they  can  go  a  long  distance  without  food  or  water. 
A  camel  can  store  away  enough  water  at  one  drinking  to 
last  him  for  a  week. 

The  best  Arabian  horses  are  produced  in  the  province 
of  Nejd,  in  central  Arabia.  They  are  not  so  large  as  the 
average  American  horse,  and  we  have  many  race  horses 
which  can  go  faster  than  they  can.  They  are  usually 
gray  in  color,  though  some  of  them  are  chestnut,  sorrel, 
or  black.     They  are  noted  for  their  beauty,  for  their  kind- 


LIFE   IN   THE   DESERT.  279 

ness,  and  for  their  endurance.  They  are  trained  to  travel 
long  distances  without  water,  and  a  good  Arabian  horse 
can  canter  for  twenty-four  hours  in  summer,  and  for  forty- 
eight  in  winter,  without  drinking. 

The  Bedouins  think  a  great  deal  of  their  horses.  These 
animals  are  brought  up  by  their  masters  almost  as  care- 
fully as  though  they  were  children,  and  they  are  seldom 
sold.  The  Bedouins  ride  them  with  halters  instead  of 
bridles,  guiding  them  this  way  and  that  with  the  knee. 

The  Arabian  villages  look  more  like  dust  heaps  than 
anything  else.  They  are  surrounded  by  mud  walls.  The 
houses  are  seldom  of  more  than  two  stories,  and  the  major- 
ity are  of  only  one  story.  They  have  flat  roofs,  and  are 
made  of  bricks  dried  in  the  sun.  Each  village  is  cut  up 
by  winding,  narrow  streets,  and  such  shops  as  it  has  are 
built  about  a  market  place  where  the  people  come  to 
trade.  The  shops  are  often  kept  by  women,  and  very 
little  else  than  food  is  sold  in  them. 

But  suppose  we  make  a  visit  to  one  of  the  high-class 
Arabs.  His  house  is  like  all  Arabian  town  houses,  only 
a  little  better  than  that  of  the  average  native.  We  pass 
through  a  low  door,  and  into  a  large  coffee  or  reception 
room.  Here  all  guests  are  received,  and  if  we  should  stay 
over  night  it  is  here  that  we  should  sleep,  on  the  floor. 

Our  host  is  a  well-to-do  man,  and  we  find  the  room  cov- 
ered with  carpets.  There  arc  cushions  here  and  there, 
and  we  take  seats  on  the  floor.  At  one  end  of  the  room 
there  is  a  fireplace.  Upon  this  some  coffee  is  steaming, 
and  we  are  offered  a  cup  as  soon  as  we  are  seated.  It  is 
served  in  little  china  cups,  as  big  around  as  an  eggshell. 
The  fluid  is  as  thick  as  molasses  and  as  hot  as  fire.  We 
sip  it  gingerly,  and  enjoy  the  rich  aromatic  smell. 

We   find  our  Arabian   friends    very   hospitable,   so  we 


280  ARABIA. 

Stay  until  evening,  and  are  then  asked  to  take  dinner. 
Many  of  the  Arabs  eat  only  one  full  meal  a  day,  this  being 
served  soon  after  sunset.  Our  dinner  consists  of  thin 
wheat  cakes  baked  to  a  crisp  on  an  oven,  and  of  a  stew 
of  tough  camel's  flesh. 

We  eat  with  our  fingers,  and  pick  the  meat  out  of  the 
stew  with  pieces  of  the  wheat  cakes,  which  we  double  up 
for  the  purpose.  Then  dates  and  other  fruits  and  sweets 
are  offered  to  us.  When  we  have  finished,  a  bowl  of  water 
is  brought  in  and  every  one  washes  his  hands.  Then  a 
covered  bowl  with  incense  burning  in  it  is  passed  around 
to  each  guest,  in  order  that  he  may  perfume  his  hands, 
face,  and  clothes.  No  liquor  is  served.  Very  few  Arabs 
drink  wine ;  for  they  are  Mohammedans,  and  the  drinking 
of  intoxicating  liquors  is  against  the  rules  of  their  religion. 

We  find  the  people  very  simple  in  their  habits  and  very 
clean  as  to  their  persons.  They  bathe  often,  and  are 
especially  careful  of  their  teeth,  which  shine  out  like  rows 
of  ivory  from  the  dark  backgrounds  of  their  complexions. 
Nearly  all  the  men  and  boys  shave  their  heads,  as  is  the 
custom  with  all  good  Mohammedans,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
men  in  the  cities  wear  large  white  turbans. 

We  find  that  the  Arabs  have  very  bright  minds,  though 
they  are  almost  altogether  uneducated,  and  very  few  can 
read.  A  thousand  years  ago  the  Arabs  were  among  the 
most  learned  people  of  the  world.  They  had  the  best 
doctors,  and  they  were  also  famous  as  mathematicians  and 
astronomers.  They  were  the  first  to  introduce  the  study 
of  algebra  into  western  Europe,  and  they  were  early  noted 
for  their  knowledge  of  geography. 

Arabia  was  long  the  seat  of  the  Mohammedan  religion, 
and  the  city  of  Mecca,  where  Mohammed  was  born,  is 
still  a  holy  place  to  the  millions  of  people  who  believe  in 


LIFE  IN  tup:  desert. 


2«I 


this  religion.  Mecca  has  about  forty-five  thousand  in- 
habitants. It  lies  in  a  sandy  valley  surrounded  by  rocky 
hills  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  seventy-five  miles  east 
of  the  Red  Sea.  Pilgrims  by  the  thousand  come  on 
camels  in  caravans  from  Turkey  south  through  Palestine 
to  Mecca,  and  many  go  by  ship  to  Jiddah,  which  is  the  sea- 
port for  Mecca,  and  from 
there  travel  inland  on 
camels,  or  on  foot. 

Mecca  contains  a  great 
mosque  or  Mohammed- 
an temple  covering 
more  than  an  acre,  in 
which  is  a  famous  black 
stone.  This  stone,  ac- 
cording to  the  native  tra- 
dition, fell  out  of  paradise 
when  Adam  was  thrust 
out  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden.  The  Mohammed- 
ans believe  that  if  they 
kiss  it  their  sins  will 
pass  away  as  their  lips 
touch  the  rock.  This 
stone  is  now  black.  Ac- 
cording to  tradition,  it 
was  originally  whiter 
than  snow,  but  the  Mo- 


A  Mohammedan  at  Prayer. 


hammedans  say,  that,  having  been  kissed  through  many 
generations,  the  sins  of  the  people  have  gone  into  it  and 
turned  it  black.  The  real  nature  of  the  stone  shows  that 
it  is  of  meteoric  origin,  and  we  know  that  there  are  many 
similar  stones  in  other  parts  of  the  world. 


282  PALESTINE. 


XXXIV.     PALESTINE   AND    ITS   PEOPLE. 

LEAVING  Aden,  we  prepare  for  a  tour  through  the 
great  Turkish  Empire  (map  on  p.  275).  Turkey 
in  Asia  comprises  the  western  and  northeastern  parts  of 
Arabia,  and  takes  in  Palestine  and  the  whole  of  Asia 
Minor.  We  may  begin  our  trip  by  sailing  around  the 
southern  coast  of  Arabia,  through  the  Persian  Gulf,  and 
up  the  river  Euphrates,  or  we  may  take  one  of  a  regular 
line  of  steamers  and  go  through  the  long  Red  Sea  and  the 
Suez  Canal  into  the  Mediterranean.  The  first  route  would 
be  through  the  pearl  fisheries  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  we 
should  see  native  divers  by  hundreds  gathering  pearls. 

The  Arabs  are  expert  divers.  We  see  something  of 
them  in  the  harbor  of  Aden,  Little  black  fellows  wearing 
nothing  but  a  cloth  tied  around  their  waists  swim  about 
like  turtles  in  the  water  near  our  steamer,  waiting  for  us 
to  throw  coins  into  the  ocean  in  order  that  they  may  dive 
down  and  catch  them  before  they  fall  to  the  bottom.  They 
do  not  speak  our  language,  but  they  have  picked  up  a  few 
words,  which  they  shout  at  us  something  like  this : 

"  Hab-a-dive  .''     Hab-a-dive  .''     Hab-a-dive  .-*  " 

They  sing  out  the  words,  showing  their  white  teeth  as 
they  do  so.  Some  are  in  canoes.  There  are  perhaps  a 
hundred  about  the  ship,  swimming  and  rowing.  We  throw 
out  a  silver  coin,  the  size  of  a  ten-cent  piece.  As  it  strikes 
the  water  a  score  of  black  boys  dive  for  it.  A  moment 
later  one  comes  up  and  turns  his  face  toward  us,  and  we 
see  the  coin  shining  out  between  his  white  teeth. 

The  best  pearl  beds  of  the  world  are  those  opposite 
Bahrein  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  from  one  to  two  million 
dollars'  worth  of  pearls  are  found  every  year.     There  are 


A   TRIP  TO   JERUSALEM.  283 

many  villages  of  Arabs  here  which  are  supported  by  the 
pearl  fisheries.  The  divers  wear  only  a  girdle  about  the 
waist,  to  which  a  basket  is  fastened.  They  plug  up  their 
ears  and  noses,  and  tie  great  stones  to  their  feet  in  order 
that  they  may  the  more  easily  remain  under  the  water. 

Pearls,  you  know,  come  from  oysters,  the  beds  of  which 
are  away  down  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  The  divers 
gather  the  oysters  and  fill  their  baskets,  and  then,  giving  a 
signal,  they  are  drawn  up  by  means  of  cords  which  are 
fastened  to  their  bodies. 

The  oysters  yield  the  best  pearls  when  they  are  about 
four  years  old,  and  pearls,  we  find,  are  of  value  according 
to  their  shape  and  the  beauty  of  their  tint.  Those  which 
are  perfectly  round  are  the  most  prized,  and  the  finest 
pearl  known  to  the  world  is  in  a  museum  at  Moscow,  Rus- 
sia. The  largest  known  pearl  is  in  the  South  Kensington 
Museum  in  England  ;  it  weighs  three  ounces.  It  is  as  big 
round  as  a  walnut,  but  its  shape  is  not  a  perfect  sphere. 
The  pearls  found  in  Arabia  are  of  all  sizes,  some  being  no 
larger  than  a  mustard  seed. 

The  route  to  Asia  Minor  passes  along  the  Euphrates 
and  the  Tigris  up  to  the  old  city  of  Bagdad,  and  thence 
by  caravan  over  the  country  to  Aleppo.  But  we  wish  first 
to  visit  Palestine,  so  we  take  the  other  route.  Sailing  over 
the  Red  Sea  for  fourteen  hundred  miles,  we  float  through 
the  Suez  Canal  and  into  the  Mediterranean.  We  land  at 
Jaffa  (the  ancient  Joppa),  a  ragged,  dirty  town  built  upon 
the  rocks  at  the  edge  of  the  sea.  Here  we  take  carriages 
for  Jerusalem,  which  lies  up  in  the  mountains  about  forty 
miles  away.  There  is  now  a  railroad  from  Jaffa  to  Jerusa- 
lem, but  the  carriage  ride  is  pleasanter,  for  every  foot  of 
Palestine  is  historic  ground,  and  its  scenes  are  among  the 
most  interesting  of  all  Asia. 


284 


PALESTINE. 


The  road  is  smooth  and  hard.  Near  Jaffa  it  is  lined 
with  orange  groves,  and  we  drive  through  these  out  upon 
the  plains  of  Sharon,  where  the  Philistines  lived  in  the 
days  of  Goliath  and  David.  Our  road  goes  through  flat 
meadows  on  which  fat  cattle  are  grazing.  The  grass  is 
as  green  as  that  of  our  fields  in  June,  and  it  is  spotted 
with  thousands  of  poppies,  the  flowers  of  which  are  as 
big  as  the  palm  of  your  hand,  and  as  red  as  blood. 


"We  land  at  Jaffa—  ' 

In  some  places  the  farmers  are  plowing.  We  see  that 
the  plows  are  made  of  two  sticks  of  wood,  one  set  into  the 
other  at  almost  right  angles,  and  that  the  farmer  holds  the 
plow  by  one  hand  while  he  carries  a  goad  in  the  other. 
Now  we  pass  a  couple  of  camels  hitched  to  a  plow,  the 
proud,  ungainly  beasts  stalking  across  the  fields  with  a 
sullen  air,  as  though  they  felt  the  humiliation  of  their  labor. 

On  the  hillsides  are  dark-faced  shepherds  watching  their 


A  TRIP  TO   JERUSALEM, 


285 


flocks ;  and  there  in  the  field,  pulling  up  bunches  of  grass 
for  her  cattle,  is  a  girl  who  makes  us  think  of  Ruth  gather- 
ing wheat  in  the  harvest  fields  of  Boaz.  The  plains  of 
Sharon  are  the  richest  part  of  Palestine,  and  we  do  not 
wonder  that  the  Philistines  fought  for  them. 


"  —  a  couple  of  camels  hitched  to  a  plow  —  " 

It  takes  us  a  half  day  to  reach  the  hills  upon  which  the 
Israelites  lived.  The  road  winds  in  and  out  among  little 
mountains.  We  pass  groves  of  olive  trees,  and,  climbing 
higher  and  higher,  we  come  at  last  to  the  little  plateau 
upon  which  the  city  of  Jerusalem  stands. 

Before  we  enter  the  city,  let  us  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of 
Palestine.  Its  size  is  a  surprise  to  us.  We  knew  that  it  was 
small,  but  we  did  not  think  how  very  small  it  is.  Pales- 
tine is  not,  on  the  average,  more  than  fifty  miles  wide,  and 
it  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long.     Were  there 


286 


PALESTINE. 


a  railroad  across  it,  a  fast  express  train  could  go  from  one 
side  to  the  other  in  an  hour,  and  if  the  road  ran  length- 
wise we  might  start  at  the  north  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  by  noon  reach  the  other  end  of  the  country. 
Just  opposite  Jerusalem,  not  a  mile  from  the  walls,  is 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  is  twenty-seven  hundred  feet 
high.  We  can  stand  on  this  mountain,  and  on  a  bright  day 
can  behold  the  Mediterranean  on  the  right  hand,  and  on 

the  left  the  Dead  Sea  and  the 
river  Jordan.  It  is  not  so  far 
from  Dan  to  Beersheba  as  from 
New  York  to  Washington,  and 
the  Jordan  is  so  narrow  that  al- 
most any  boy  could  throw  a  stone 
across  most  parts  of  it.  The 
country  is  rocky  and  at  present 
mostly  barren  and  uncultivated. 
Jerusalem  is  surrounded  by 
hills  covered  with  limestone. 
The  walls  of  the  city  are  of 
yellow  limestone,  beautifully  cut, 
and  of  the  height  of  a  four-story 
house.  They  run  around  the 
town,  skirting  the  edges  of  a  little  plateau.  From  three 
sides  of  this  plateau  the  ground  slopes  down  into  val- 
leys at  an  angle  so  steep  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
climb  up  without  getting  down  on  your  hands  and  knees. 
The  fourth  side  of  the  city  faces  a  plain. 

The  space  inside  the  walls  is  covered  with  a  mass  of 
boxlike  limestone  houses,  built  one  on  top  of  the  other 
and  crowded  along  narrow  streets  in  all  sorts  of  shapes. 
Above  them  here  and  there  rises  the  spire  of  a  church, 
and  at  one  corner  of  the  city  there  is  a  space  of  thirty-five 


""ItV  '^'^T'  |,T. A  L E S T  I  >■  E 
Ascalon      l"?-  ^    * 

Het.ion' 


i    j  CHRISTIAN  ERA 
'""-'\  4  [■     Scale  of  Miles 

Beeraheb&j     y        //>     ^ 


10    20    ao    40 


Ancient  Palestine. 


A  TRIP  TO   JERUSALEM.  287 

acres,  in  which  stands  an  immense  round  building  with  a 
dome  of  bronze.  This  is  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  which  is 
built  on  the  site  of  Solomon's  Temple,  and  under  which 
scientists  suppose  the  ruins  of  the  temple  to  be. 

In  the  center  of  the  city,  rising  out  from  among  the 
stone  boxes,  may  be  seen  another  great  dome.  This 
crowns  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  and  is  supposed 
to  cover  the  spot  on  which  Christ  was  crucified.  In  it  is 
kept  the  marble  tomb  in  which  the  Oriental  Christians 
think  the  body  of  Jesus  was  laid. 

The  remainder  of  Jerusalem  is  made  up  of  the  narrowest 
streets  walled  with  houses  more  closely  packed  together 
than  those  of  any  other  city  of  the  world.  There  are  more 
than  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  the  area  of  the  city  is 
less  than  a  square  mile.  There  are  families  of  Jews, 
Greeks,  and  Armenians,  each  living  in  one  small  room  — 
so  small,  indeed,  that  it  would  be  thought  hardly  large 
enough  for  a  bedroom  in  America. 

Many  of  the  houses  have  no  windows,  the  rooms  being 
vaulted  caves,  floored,  walled,  and  ceiled  with  stone,  and 
lighted  only  from  the  front.  Such  houses  often  stand  one 
on  top  of  the  other.  We  visit  parts  of  Jerusalem  in  which 
a  half  dozen  families  are  packed  into  a  like  number  of 
rooms  about  a  little  court  upon  which  the  rooms  open. 
They  are  so  small  that  their  owners  cannot  cook  in  them, 
and  the  cooking  is  generally  done  in  the  court. 

The  roofs  of  the  Jerusalem  houses  are  flat,  and  not  a 
few  of  them  are  covered  with  grass.  They  form  the 
evening  loafing  places  of  many  families,  and  in  warm 
weather  the  people  often  sleep  upon  them.  There  are 
no  chimneys,  the  fuel  used  being  charcoal,  which  does  not 
make  much  smoke. 

The  streets  of  Jerusalem  are  as  queer  as  the  houses. 

CAK1>.  ASIA —  18 


288 


PALESTINE. 


They  are  narrow  and  winding.  In  some  places  the 
houses  are  built  over  the  streets,  and  often  in  our  walk 
through  the  city  we  seem  to  be  going  through  long  lines 
of  vaulted  caves.  We  find  in  some  streets  that  each  of 
the  caves  is  a  shop.      The  shops  open  right  out  upon 

the  street.  They  arc 
not  large  enough  for  the 
customers  to  enter,  and 
hardly  big  enough  for 
the  shopkeeper  to  turn 
around  in  them. 

The  workshops  are  of 
the  same  cavelike  char- 
acter, and  all  Jerusalem 
looks  as  though  it  had 
been  made  by  a  people 
who  had  been  brought 
up  in  caves  and  had 
modeled  their  houses 
after  the  homes  of  their 
fathers.  This  is  so  with 
the  villages  of  Palestine. 
Many  of  them  are  built  against  the  sides  of  the  hills,  the 
hills  forming  the  back  walls  of  the  houses. 

What  a  wonderful  variety  of  faces  we  see  on  the  streets  ! 
There  are  men  from  all  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire, 
and  from  nearly  every  country  of  Christendom.  There 
are  pilgrims  by  the  thousand,  and  the  streets  are  filled 
with  curious  characters  and  costumes. 

Let  us  take  a  seat  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  houses  and 
look  down  on  the  crowd  which  passes  below  us.  That 
dark-faced  man  in  a  long  brown  and  white  gown  with 
red   leather   shoes    and    a   yellow   kerchief    covering    his 


—  houses  are  built  over  the  streets 


A  TRIP  TO   JERUSALEM. 


289 


head  is  a  Bedouin.  His  face  is  brown  and  his  features 
are  kindly.  Around  his  headdress  are  two  thick  strands 
of  black  rope  which  are  tied  about  it  like  a  crown,  and  he 
reminds  us  of  the  /Vrabians  we  saw  at  Aden.  Next  him 
stands  a  shepherd  from  l^ethlehcm  in  a  coat  of  sheepskin, 
with  a  gown  underneath  which  falls  to  his  feet.  He  has  a 
Bethlehem  girl  with  him,  and  we  see  that  her  face  is  as 
fair  and  her  features  as  regular  as  our  own.  Her  dress  is 
of  red  and  green  silk,  and  the  front  of  her  head  is  orna- 
mented with  rows  of  gold  coin  strung  upon  strings  and  so 
tied  that  they  form  a 
cap  above  her  white 
forehead. 

Then  there  are  pil- 
grims from  Russia  in 
long  coats  and  trousers 
like  ours,  which  are 
worn  inside  of  high 
boots.  There  are  Arabs 
on  donkeys,  and  men 
from  the  desert  on 
camels.  It  is  hard  for 
us  to  tell  which  are 
the  Mohammedans  and 
which  are  the  Chris- 
tians, for  the  dress  here 
gives  us  little  idea  of  a 
person's  religion. 

There  is  one  class  of  pcojilo,  however,  whom  we  cannot 
mistake.  They  are  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem.  They  have 
olive-brown  faces,  curved  noses,  and  long  curls  of  hair 
hanging  down  in  front  of  their  ears.  Thcv  wear  long 
gowns  and  caps  bound  with   fur  which  rest  flat  on  their 


Shepherds  from  Bethlehem. 


290  TURKEY   IN   ASIA. 

heads.  The  fur  stands  out  from  the  cap,  forming  a  ring 
round  it  like  the  quills  of  a  mad  porcupine.  With  these 
men  are  Jewish  women,  who  wear  bright-colored  dresses 
and  cover  their  shoulders  with  flowered  shawls. 

And  then  there  are  Greek  men  with  many  skirts  reach- 
ing from  their  waists  to  their  knees.  Their  heads  are  cov- 
ered with  skull  caps  of  red  felt,  known  as  fez  caps,  and 
they  wear  embroidered  white  jackets.  There  are  men 
from  Ethiopia  with  faces  like  jet,  and  men  from  the  north 
whose  complexions  are  as  fair  as  our  own.  The  scene  is 
one  of  the  strangest  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  in  no 
other  city  can  you  find  so  many  different  types,  represent- 
ing so  many  different  races,  countries,  and  creeds. 


oX>ic 


XXXV.     TRAVELS   AMONG   THE   TURKS. 

WE  travel  on  horses  from  Jerusalem  through  the  Holy 
Land  northward  to  Damascus,  one  of  the  oldest  cities 
of  the  world,  and  then  move  in  caravans  from  one  place  to 
another,  visiting  the  chief  towns  of  Turkey  in  Asia.  We 
meet  everywhere  the  officers  of  the  sultan.  They  demand 
our  passports  and  must  know  just  where  we  are  going. 
The  sultan  is  the  despotic  ruler  of  the  Turkish  Empire, 
which  embraces  Turkey  in  Europe,  Turkey  in  Asia,  and 
the  Turkish  provinces  of  Africa.  The  capital  of  the  em- 
pire is  Constantinople.  It  is  situated  in  Europe,  but  the 
majority  of  the  sultan's  subjects  live  in  his  Asiatic  terri- 
tories, which  are  almost  as  large  as  our  Southern  States. 

Turkey  in  Asia  has  more  than  sixteen  million  inhabitants. 
We  think  of  it  as  the  land  of  the  Mohammedans,  but  it 
contains  also  many  Jews  and  Christians.     The  Turks  are 


TRAVELS  AMONG  THE  TURKS. 


291 


everywhere  the  rulers.  They  came  originally  from  central 
Asia,  and  gradually  conquered  the  different  provinces 
which  now  make  up  Asiatic  Turkey.  They  adopted  the 
religion  of  the  Mohammedans,  and  for  centuries  they  have 
been  the  leading  people  of  this  faith. 

The  Governor  of  Jerusalem  is  a  Turk.  On  the  plains  of 
Sharon,  over  which  we  passed  in  the  last  chapter,  there  are 
high  stone  towers  in  which  Turkish  soldiers  stand  to  watch 
the  fields,  when  the  crops  are  ripe,  to  see  that  no  one  gath- 
ers the  grain  or  fruit  without  giving  the  sultan  his  share. 
The  rule  is  that  one  tenth 
of  every  crop  must  go  to 
the  government,  and  that 
this  tenth  must  be  col- 
lected at  harvest  time. 

The  farmers  of  the 
Turkish  provinces  live  in 
villages.  Outside  of  each 
town  there  is  a  threshing 
floor  to  which  the  wheat, 
barley,  and  like  grains  are 
brought  as  soon  as  they 
are  cut,  and  trodden  out 
by  oxen  or  donkeys.  The  farmer  dares  not  take  his  grain 
away  from  the  threshing  floor  until  the  taxgatherer  has 
come  and  taken  out  the  sultan's  tenth. 

Most  Turkish  cities  are  surrounded  by  walls,  and  at  the 
gates  are  stationed  officials  to  tax  everything  that  comes 
into  the  city  for  sale.  During  my  visit  to  Jerusalem  there 
were  two  soldiers  at  each  gate,  who  collected  money  upon 
everything,  even  to  a  single  chicken  or  a  head  of  lettuce. 
At  one  of  the  gates  I  saw  a  farmer  come  in,  bringing  a 
load  of  wood  on  the  back  of  a  little  donkey.     The  wood 


^Wmm> 


'—  there  are  high  stone  towers  — 


292 


TURKEY   IN  ASIA. 


was  olive  roots,  and  there  was  not,  all  told,  more  than 
enough  to  fill  a  two-bushel  basket.  My  guide  told  me 
that  the  man  expected  to  get  twenty-five  cents  for  the 
load.  I  saw  the  soldiers  stop  him,  and  after  a  moment  he 
handed  them  coins  worth  about  three  cents  as  a  tax  on  the 
wood,  after  which  he  was  allowed  to  pass  in. 

Turkish  villages  are  little  more  than  collections  of  mud 
huts.     We  shall  be  surprised  at  the  poverty  of  the  people 

as  we  pass  through  the 
country,  for  Turkey  con- 
tains some  of  the  richest 
soil  of  the  world.  The 
peninsula  of  Asia  Minor 
is  made  up  of  high  pla- 
teaus covered  with  fine 
pastures  of  rich  grass. 
The  sheep  and  goats 
there  produce  some  of 
the  finest  wool  in  the 
world,  and  the  soil  is 
excellent  for  farming. 

East  of  Syria  is  Meso- 
potamia, which  was  the 
seat  of  some  of  the  rich- 
est empires  of  the  past,  and  in  which  was  the  great  city 
of  Babylon,  where  Nebuchadnezzar  ruled.  This  country 
is  an  almost  unbroken  plain,  well  watered  and  very  rich. 

The  provinces  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan  are  composed 
of  highlands,  some  of  the  plains  there  being  more  than  a 
mile  above  the  sea.  In  Armenia  we  find  Mt.  Ararat,  upon 
which  Noah's  ark  is  said  to  have  landed,  and  the  Arme- 
nians have  a  tradition  that  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  located 
in  their  country. 


Turkish  Soldiers. 


TRAVELS   AMONG  THE  TURKS.  293 

Throughout  all  these  countries  the  people  live  in  vil- 
lages. The  small  towns  of  Asia  Minor  arc  made  of 
houses  of  sun-dried  brick.  They  have  fiat  roofs,  and 
their  windows  are  usually  only  holes  through  the  wall. 

The  Armenian  villagers  live  very  simply.  They  have 
little  furniture,  the  possessions  of  many  a  family  consist- 
ing of  only  the  straw  mat  which  covers  the  floor,  a  rude 
chest  which  contains  their  clothes,  a  few  copper  vessels, 
and  some  stone  water  jars.  The  cooking  is  done  upon 
open  fires,  or  in  ovens  of  clay  or  stone.  The  floor  is  used 
for  serving  the  meals,  and  the  fingers  of  the  people  take 
the  place  of  knives  and  forks. 

The  houses  of  many  of  the  Armenian  villages  are  built 
either  wholly  or  partly  under  the  ground.  An  excava- 
tion is  made  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  and  the  houses  are  built 
within  it,  so  that  we  can  hardly  tell  where  they  are  unless 
we  come  to  them  from  the  front.  They  are  of  one  story, 
and  their  flat  roofs  are  covered  with  two  or  three  feet  of 
earth,  on  which  the  grass  grows.  There  are  no  fences 
about  the  roofs,  and  we  often  see  cattle  and  sheep  eating 
grass  on  the  tops  of  the  houses. 

The  floors  are  usually  sunk  below  the  level  of  the 
ground,  and  we  have  to  step  down  to  go  in.  Upon  enter- 
ing we  find  a  cow  stable  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other 
side  the  room  which  often  forms  the  kitchen,  parlor,  and 
bedroom  of  the  family.  It  is  very  cold  in  Armenia  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  winter,  and  this  is  why  the  houses 
are  built  in  a  cavelike  manner. 

We  find  the  Turks  very  hospitable.  At  each  village  the 
ruler  asks  us  to  take  dinner  with  him,  and  he  is  expected 
to  offer  strangers  a  place  to  stay  for  at  least  one  night. 
If  we  should  offer  to  pay  for  our  entertainment,  the  Turk 
would  be  insulted. 


294 


TURKEY   IN   ASIA. 


You  see  few  beggars  in  Turkey,  but  the  poor  man  with- 
out a  dinner  often  goes  at  mealtimes  to  call  upon  his  more 
wealthy  neighbor,  and  is  seldom  turned  away.  The  food 
of  the  people  consists  of  rice,  millet,  wheat,  and  different 
kinds  of  meat.  They  are  fond  of  sweets,  and  they  make 
delicious  candies,  sirups,  and  preserves. 

Turkey  has  a  number  of  large  cities.  Smyrna,  on  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  contains  about  two  hundred  thousand 
people.  Damascus  is  quite  as  large.  Bagdad  has  one 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand,  and  Aleppo  has  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  In  these  cities  live 
many  rich  merchants,  who  have  comfortable  homes.  The 
houses  of  the  well-to-do  Turks  have  special  quarters  for 
the  women,  guests  of  the  other  sex  being  received  in  the 
outer  apartments. 

The  women  of  Turkey  are  shut  off  by  themselves,  and 
the  women's  quarters  of  a  rich  Turk's  house  are  often 

guarded  by  slaves.  A 
Turkish  woman  never 
goes  out  upon  the  street 
without  covering  her 
whole  form  in  a  blue  or 
black  gown,  which  makes 
her  look  as  though  she 
were  walking  about  in  a 
balloon.  In  addition  to 
this  garment  she  has  a 
veil  over  her  face.  On 
the  street  it  is  impossible 
to  lell  one  woman  from  another,  the  veils  being  so  thick 
that  you  cannot  distinguish  the  features,  nor  see  whether 
the  faces  are  beautiful  or  not.  The  house  dress  consists 
of  a  pair  of  very  full  trousers  and  a  jacket. 


Turkish  Woman. 


TRAVELS   AMONG   THE  TURKS.  295 

Many  of  the  Turkish  men  wear  gowns  which  reach  to 
their  feet,  and  under  these  very  full  pantaloons.  Some 
wear  pantaloons  of  cloth,  and  short  jackets  much  like  a 
roundabout.  The  pantaloons  are  tied  at  the  ankles,  and 
the  shoes  below  are  usually  turned  up  at  the  toes  and 
are  often  made  without  heels.  Many  of  the  men's  jackets 
are  embroidered  with  silver  and  gold,  and  the  men  are, 
as  a  rule,  fond  of  fine  clothes.  They  have  their  heads 
shaved,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  lock  on 
the  crown,  and  they 
wear  skull  caps  or  tur- 
bans, keeping  them 
on  while  in  the  house. 

In  Turkey  husbands 
and  wives  do  not  eat 
together.  They  do 
not  mix  together  at 
parties.    Children  are 

promised  in  marriage  in  infancy,  and  boys  are  encouraged 
to  get  married  while  they  are  still  in  their  teens.  There  is 
no  courting  done.  AH  marriage  arrangements  are  made  by 
the  parents  of  the  bride  and  groom.  At  the  time  of  the 
betrothal  the  mother  of  the  groom  takes  a  present  of 
candy  to  the  bride.  The  bride  bites  one  of  the  choicest 
bits  in  two,  cats  half  of  it,  and  sends  the  other  half  back 
to  the  young  man.  It  is  said  that  he  usually  receives  it 
with  joy  as  a  love  offering,  and  eats  it.  Weddings  usually 
take  place  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  bridegroom  says  a 
prayer  in  the  presence  of  the  bride,  kneeling  on  her  bridal 
veil  as  he  does  so. 

The  Turks  are  not  as  a  rule  well  educated.     The  Mo- 
hammedan priests  act  as  the  teachers,  and  the  mosques  or 


296 


TURKEY    IN   ASIA. 


Turkish  Men  and  Boys. 


temples  are  often  used  for  schoolhouses.  Turkish  boys  sit 
crosslegged  on  wide  lounges  or  divans,  or  on  the  floor,  as 
they  study.  They  hold  their  books  on  their  knees  and 
study  out  loud.  They  have  no  school  desks,  and  they  hold 
their  copy  books  in  their  hands  while  they  write.  The 
Koran,  the  Mohammedan  bible,  forms  a  large  part  of 
their  studies.  Most  of  the  people,  it  is  said,  learn  to 
read  and  write,  and  every  boy  commits  to  memory  the 
different  prayers  required  in  his  religion. 

The  chief  products  of  Turkey  are  wheat,  cotton,  and 
opium.  Quite  large  amounts  of  raw  silk  and  wool  are  ex- 
ported. The  people  weave  fine  silks  and  beautiful  cloths 
of  silver  and  gold ;  and  some  of  the  most  costly  rugs  of 
the  world  are  made  in  Turkey.  They  are  woven  by  women 
and  girls  in  their  homes,  upon  the  rudest  of  looms.     The 


GEORGIANS,  KIRGHIZ,  AND   SIBERIANS.  297 

weavers  kneel  or  sit  crosslegged  at  their  work,  several  girls 
often  working  at  the  same  rug,  each  taking  a  section  of 
about  two  feet  to  weave. 

The  work  is  done  entirely  by  hand,  the  tufts  of  wool 
being  tied  together  and  fastened  into  the  threads  without 
the  aid  of  a  shuttle.  The  rugs  are  finally  clipped  smooth 
with  scissors.  They  are  so  woven  that  they  are  as  soft 
as  the  finest  of  machine-made  carpets,  and  they  last  very 
much  longer.  Such  work  is  very  slow.  A  good  weaver 
cannot  make  more  than  three  or  four  inches  of  carpet  a 
day,  and  a  hearth  rug  of  the  best  quality,  seven  feet  long 
by  four  feet  wide,  requires  six  months'  steady  work. 


XXXVI.     RUSSIA   IN   WEST  ASIA. 

WE  take  our  last  view  of  Asia  in  traveling  through 
the  Russian  possessions  on  the  western  side  of 
it.  We  recall  our  visit  to  eastern  Siberia,  on  the  northern 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  here,  after  thousands  of  miles  of  travel 
in  strange  countries,  moving  through  all  kinds  of  climates 
and  all  varieties  of  scenery,  we  find  ourselves  again  on 
Russian  soil. 

We  stand  amazed  when  we  think  of  the  possessions  of 
Russia  in  Asia.  They  consist  of  the  province  of  Trans- 
Caucasia  (map  on  p.  265),  the  vast  territories  east  of  the 
Caspian  Sea  known  as  Russian  Turkestan,  the  Kirghiz 
Steppes,  and  Siberia  —  embracing  an  area,  all  told,  which 
is  about  twice  the  size  of  the  United  States. 

In  Trans-Caucasia  we  visit  the  city  of  Tiflis.  It  has  a 
population  of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  Georgians, 
Armenians,  and  Russians.      The  Georgian  men  wear  long 


298  RUSSIA   IN   WEST   ASIA. 

robes  gathered  in  by  a  belt  at  the  waist,  pantaloons,  high 
boots,  and  cone-shaped  caps  of  black  wool  or  astrakhan. 
They  have  rows  of  cartridges  upon  their  breasts,  and 
carry  pistols  in  their  belts.  Many  of  them  wear  swords, 
and  they  impress  us  by  their  fierce  looks. 

The  Georgian  women  are  very  pretty  and  are  much 
desired  by  the  Turks  as  wives.  In  the  past,  Turkish  slave 
traders  carried  on  a  regular  business  in  buying  these  girls 
and  shipping  them  to  Constantinople.  This  is  now  con- 
trary to  law,  but  it  is  said  that  beautiful  Georgian  girls  are 
still  often  sold  by  their  parents  to  the  slave  traders,  and 
are  sometimes  stolen  and  smuggled  out  of  the  country. 
Georgian  women  have  fair,  rosy  complexions,  black  hair, 
large  eyes,  and  white  teeth.  They  have  slender  forms, 
with  small  hands  and  feet.  They  are  fine  dancers  and  are 
fond  of  music,  many  of  them  playing  upon  tambourines 
and  a  kind  of  a  guitar.  They  wear  gowns  much  like 
those  of  the  women  of  Europe,  and  their  headdress  con- 
sists of  a  small  round  cap,  over  which  is  thrown  a  white 
silk  or  lace  handkerchief  tied  under  the  chin. 

We  visit  the  Russian  oil  regions  about  the  Caspian  Sea. 
The  city  of  Baku,  on  its  western  shore,  is  the  great  oil 
center.  The  territory  about  it  is  spotted  with  derricks  or 
high  frameworks  for  the  pumping  of  petroleum,  and  it 
reminds  us  of  the  scenes  in  the  oil  regions  of  Pennsylvania. 

At  Baku  we  get  a  steamer  which  takes  us  across  the 
Caspian  Sea  and  lands  us  on  the  opposite  shore,  and  thence 
hy  a  land  journey  we  come  to  the  great  Trans-Caspian 
railroad,  which  carries  us  nearly  a  thousand  miles  into  the 
heart  of  central  Asia.  Both  the  engines  of  the  steamer 
and  those  which  pull  our  cars  use  petroleum  as  fuel. 

We  travel  for  miles  through  deserts,  visiting  now  and 
then  an  oasis,  or  fertile  spot,  where  the  land  is  cut  up  by 


GEORGIANS,  KIRGHIZ,  AND   SIBERIANS. 


299 


irrigating  canals  and  every  drop  of  water  is  saved  to  feed 
the  thirsty  soil. 

We  pass  through  the  little  countries  of  Khiva  and 
Bokhara,  peopled  by  Tartars  who  raise  wheat,  rice,  barley, 
cotton,  tobacco,  and  silk.  We  find  delicious  peaches, 
melons,  and  grapes.  The  railroad  takes  us  through  vast 
fields  of  cotton,  the  seed  of  which  was  brought  from  Amer- 
ica, and  the  product  of  which  is  now  competing  with  our 
cotton  in  the  markets  of  Russia.  We  see  tribes  of  wander- 
ing Tartars,  who  live  in  tents  and   look   not  unlike  the 

Turks   we   saw  in  Tur-  

key.     This  region    was     ,  '| 

the  original  home  of  the  1 

Turks,  and  from  here 
they  moved  westward 
to  the  countries  along 
the  Mediterranean  Sea. 

The  land  rises  as  we 
go  to  the  east.  We 
reach  the  Pamir  (pa- 
meer'),  which  is  one  of 
the  highest  countries  of 
the  world,  and  then  move  northward  on  a  high  plateau 
through  Russian  Turkestan  on  our  way  to  Siberia.  Passing 
between  the  great  bodies  of  salt  water  known  as  the  Aral 
Sea  and  Lake  Balkash,  we  travel  over  the  Kirghiz  Steppes 
and  meet  the  Tartar  herders  and  shepherds  who  form  its 
inhabitants.  They  are  known  as  Kirghiz,  and  they  are  one 
of  the  most  numerous  of  the  nomad  races  of  Asia.  There 
are  more  than  three  millions  of  them,  and  their  country  is 
more  than  a  third  as  large  as  Russia  in  Europe. 

The  Kirghiz  have  vast  numbers  of  camels,  sheep,  horses, 
and  cows.     They  think  it  is  more  respectable  to  live  in 


Siberian  Farmers. 


300  RUSSIA   IN   WEST  ASIA. 

tents  and  to  move  about  from  one  pasture  field  to  another, 
than  to  live  in  towns,  and  they  are  proud  of  being  stock 
breeders  rather  than  farmers. 

They  remind  us  much  of  our  American  Indians,  and  we 
find  them  not  unlike  the  Tartars  whom  we  saw  north  of 
the  Great  Wall  of  China.  They  have  high  cheek  bones, 
small,  oblique  eyes,  and  complexions  which  are  almost  the 
color  of  copper.  Both  men  and  women  wear  yellow  or 
red  leather  trousers  fastened  at  the  waist  with  a  girdle. 
Over  these  they  have  long  robes  much  like  dressing  gowns 
tied  in  by  a  belt  at  the  waist.  The  women  wear  a  close- 
fitting  shirt  in  addition  to  their  trousers  and  robe. 

The  Kirghiz  are  Mohammedans,  but  the  women  do  not 
cover  their  faces  so  carefully  as  in  other  Mohammedan 
countries.  They  are  fond  of  jewelry.  They  paint  and 
powder  their  faces,  and  braid  ribbon  and  horsehair  into 
their  locks  in  order  to  make  their  hair  appear  longer. 

The  Kirghiz  have  some  curious  marriage  customs.  Girls 
are  married  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  at  twenty-three  an 
unmarried  girl  is  looked  upon  as  an  old  maid.  The  groom 
has  to  pay  a  certain  amount  to  the  parents  of  the  bride 
before  the  marriage  can  take  place.  This  payment  is  gen- 
erally in  the  form  of  sheep,  honses,  or  camels.  A  poor  and 
rather  homely  girl  is  often  sold  for  one  or  two  camels,  but 
the  beautiful  daughter  of  a  rich  man  may  bring  as  much 
as  one  hundred  sheep  or  fifty  camels. 

The  Kirghiz  men  allow  their  wives  to  do  the  most  of 
the  work.  The  women  put  up  and  take  down  the  tents 
and  load  them  upon  the  camels  when  the  family  moves 
from  one  place  to  another.  They  aid  in  watching  the 
stock,  and  they  are  expected  to  do  all  the  milking.  This, 
among  the  Kirghiz,  is  a  great  task,  for  not  only  the  cows, 
but  also  sheep,  goats,  and  mares  are  milked. 


302 


RUSSIA   IN   WEST  ASIA. 


Cows,  sheep,  and  goats  are  milked  only  in  the  morning" 
and  evening,  but  the  mares  are  milked  three  times  a  day. 
One  of  the  greatest  dainties  among  the  Kirghiz  is  made 
from  mare's  milk.  It  is  a  kind  of  liquor  known  as  kou- 
miss, which  is  made  by  putting  the  milk  into  a  leather  bag 
and  keeping  it  there  for  about  two  weeks,  during  which  time 
it  is  now  and  then  stirred  and  shaken.      It  soon  ferments 


"—mares  are  miiked. 


and  produces  a  liquor  which  tastes  somewhat  like  butter- 
milk, but  which,  if  too  much  is  taken,  will  make  one  drunk. 

Just  north  of  the  Kirghiz  Steppes  lies  western  Siberia. 
It  consists,  to  a  large  extent,  of  an  unbroken  plain,  some 
of  which  is  made  up  of  bog  and  swamp,  but  a  great  part  of 
which  is  fertile  soil.  It  is  watered  by  the  great  rivers  Obi 
and  Irtish,  and  its  southern  portion  will  at  some  time  in 
the  future  support  a  vast  population. 

Western  Siberia  already  contains  about  three  million 
inhabitants,  more  than    ninety  per  cent,   of   whom  have 


GEORGIANS,   KIRGHIZ,   AND    SIBERIANS. 


303 


come  from  Russia  and  arc  engaged  in  farming,  stock 
raising,  and  mining.  The  remainder  are  native  Siberians 
who  are  hunters  and  laborers. 

We  find  but  few  towns,  and  no  very  large  cities  in  Sibe- 
ria. The  capital  is  Irkutsk,  which  contains  about  forty- 
thousand  people,  and  which,  though  so  far  away  from 
Europe,  has  excellent  schools,  a  museum,  a  theater,  a 
library,  and  a  good  hotel. 

Irkutsk  reminds  us  of  home.  Its  outskirts  have  log 
houses  like  those  of  our  pioneer  towns,  but  the  buildings 
on  the  main  streets  are  of  brick  and  stone.     Were  it  not 


Plowing  in  Siberia. 

for  the  Russian  characters  on  the  signboards,  some  of  the 
stores  would  not  seem  out  of  place  in  America.  Many  of 
them  have  plate-glass  windows,  and  upon  entering  we  find 
all  sorts  of  goods  which  have  been  imported  from  Europe. 
We  meet  women  on  the  streets  whose  dresses  are  not  un- 
like those  of  our  mothers  at  home,  and  it  seems  good  to 
find  again  men  wearing  hats,  coats,  shirts,  and  pantaloons, 
instead  of  turbans  and  gowns. 

Irkutsk  is  on   the   line  of  the   Trans-Siberian    railroad, 


304  RUSSIA   IN   WEST  ASIA. 

far  in  the  interior  of  southern  Siberia.  We  move  along 
the  line  surveyed  for  the  road  to  the  westward,  finding 
the  Russians  at  work  in  many  places,  until  we  at  last 
reach  the  western  section  of  the  railroad,  which  goes 
from  Omsk  to  the  town  of  Cheliabinsk  in  the  Ural 
Mountains. 

A  large  part  of  the  western  section  has  been  completed, 
and  we  soon  come  to  the  cars  and  finish  our  tour  of  Asia 
by  steaming  into  Cheliabinsk.  We  are  now  at  the  western 
end  of  the  great  Trans-Siberian  railroad,  and  as  we  stand 
in  the  Ural  Mountains  we  can  in  our  minds  look  back 
across  Siberia  along  this  trunk  line  and  see  the  point  at 
which  we  first  visited  it,  at  Vladivostok  on  the  Pacific. 
We  learn  that  the  main  line  of  the  road,  4696  miles  long, 
will  cost  the  enormous  sum  of  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  million  dollars,  and  that  it  will  be  completed  in  the 
year  1905.  We  see  that  through  it  southern  Siberia  will 
sometime  become  one  of  the  richest  and  most  populous 
countries  of  the  world,  and  we  are  more  and  more  struck 
with  the  vast  area  and  riches  of  the  country. 

We  see  more  of  the  Russians  as  we  take  a  rapid  flight  by 
rail  through  Russia  to  Germany.  Fast  trains  carry  us  to 
Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg.  After  a  short  stay  at  the 
capital  of  the  czar,  we  go  by  rail  to  Berlin,  and  thence  to 
Hamburg,  where  we  get  a  steamer  for  the  United  States. 
The  passage  across  the  Atlantic  requires  only  seven  day.*^, 
and  within  a  week  after  sailing  we  find  ourselves  again  on 
American  soil  in  the  city  of  New  York. 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGEX^S 


